Abstract
The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between contact angle and tensile bond strength of dental luting cements.Contact angles of four different luting cements(zinc phosphate, polycarboxylate, glass ionomer and resin cements)on four different casting alloys(Au-Ag-Cu, Ag-Pd, Ni-Cr, and Ti)or dentin were examined.A volume of 0.2ml of each cement mixture was placed on each material polished with #600 SiC and a polyvinylsiloxane impression was made after the setting of the cement.After a replica was fabricated from the impression, the cross-section of the replica was prepared and photographed to measure the contact angle of each cement on each substrate.The tensile bond strength between each cement and each metal was determined according to the method described in the previous study.The contact angle of the resin cement on any substrate were the lowest values among the cements examined;however, the zinc phosphate cement had the highest values of contact angles on any substrate(p<0.05).The resin cement showed the greatest tensile bond strength to any materials among the cements examined(p<0.05).A significant correlation between the contact angle and tensile bond strength of the cements was found(correlation coefficient=-0.895, p<0.05).The results suggested that the wettability of luting cements is one of the factors predicting the adhesive properties of the cements.
