Effect of thermocycling on the mechanical properties of permanent composite-based CAD-CAM restorative materials produced by additive and subtractive manufacturing techniques

Abstract Background The aim of the study was to determine and compare the biaxial flexural strength (BFS) and Vickers hardness (VHN) of additive and subtractive manufactured permanent composite-based restorative materials, before and after thermal aging. Methods A total of 200 specimens were prepared; 100 disc-shaped specimens (diameter 13 × 1.2 mm) for the BFS test and 100 square specimens (14 × 14 × 2 mm) for the VHN test. The specimens were made from various materials: two subtractive composite-based blocks (Cerasmart 270 CS, Vita Enamic VE), two additive composite-based resins used for two different vat polymerization methods (digital light processing DLP; Saremco Print Crowntec SC and stereolithography SLA; Formlabs Permanent Crown Resin FP), and one feldspathic glass-matrix ceramic block (Vita Mark II VM) as the control group. Specimens of each material were divided into two subgroups: thermal cycled or non-thermal cycled ( n = 10). BFS and VHN tests were performed on all groups. Data were analyzed with two-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test (α = 0.05). Results The type of restorative material used for the specimen had a statistically significant influence on both BFS and VHN values. However, thermal cycling did not affect the BFS and VHN values. After thermal cycling, the results of the BFS test were ranked from best to worst as follows: CS, FP, SC, VE, then VM. For the VHN values, the order from best to worst was as follows: VM, VE, CS, FP, then SC. Conclusions 3D printed and milled composite groups showed higher BFS than feldspathic ceramics. When the VHN results were examined, it was seen that the 3D resin groups had the lowest VHN values. Furthermore, it was observed that the thermal cycle had no effect on BFS or VHN.