Characterization of Reinforced and Unreinforced Glass-Ceramic Veneers.

This study aimed to characterize the surface topography, effect of polishing on surface roughness, residual stresses, and hardness in two glass-ceramic veneers. Fifty-two (52) upper incisors were collected, prepared, and scanned for ceramic veneers. Half of the teeth were restored with veneers made up of feldspathic ceramic (FE), and the other half with zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate ceramic (SZ). All the veneers were designed and milled using a CAD/CAM system and later cemented following the manufacturer's guideline. An optical microscope analyzed the topography of the specimens before and after polishing. The surface roughness was measured using the roughness meter (n=12) and the topographical analysis was carried out using an atomic force microscope (n=6). The residual stresses and Vickers' hardness were evaluated by the indentation method in a micro-hardness indenter (n=6). The surface roughness was analyzed using a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by a post hoc Tukey test. The Student t-test was used to compare the residual stresses and hardness between the two ceramics. The topographical analysis revealed that both glass-ceramic veneers had similar percentages of specimens with cracks, before (34.6%) and after (42.3%) polishing. The surface roughness decreased after polishing (p<0.001), and the polishing smoothed out the surface of the veneers. The zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate veneer had a lower roughness as compared to the feldspathic one after polishing, while the residual stresses (p=0.722) and hardness (p=0.782) were statistically similar for both ceramic veneers.