Abstract
The present study assesses the surface roughness (SR) and microhardness (Vickers Hardness Number, VHN) of novel resin-filled ceramic and resin composite materials fabricated using 3D printers and CAD/CAM technologies after being subjected to thermal cycling. Permanent resin restorations were fabricated using 3D printers (C; Saremco Print Crowntec, F; Permanent Crown Resin Formlabs, B VarseoSmile Crown Plus Bego) and resin-containing CAD/CAM permanent restorative materials (E; Vita Enamic, Vita, U; 3M Lava Ultimate), with a total of 75 rectangular specimens produced (12 × 14 × 1.5 mm) (n = 15). The SR (Ra, Rz) and MH values of the materials were measured before and after thermal aging, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were obtained following thermal cycling. The dataset obtained from the study was evaluated with a Two-Way Analysis of Variance (Twoway ANOVA) (α = 0.05). There was a broad and statistically significant difference in the SR values of all groups before and after thermal ageing (p < 0.001). In the MH intergroup comparisons, the values of the groups before and after the ageing process were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). The highest Ra values were recorded in 3D printed resins, while the lowest values were observed in CAD/CAM-produced materials. Furthermore, the number of samples produced using 3D printers was lower than that produced by CAD/CAM.
Keywords: 3D printed polymer composites; CAD/CAM ceramic composite materials; permanent resin composite materials