Water sorption of light-cured resin cement: The effect of Ceramic material and thickness.

Aim: The objective of the current study is to evaluate the water sorption of resin cement under three types of ceramic material (Lithium di-silicate, Vita Enamic & Cerasmart) Using two thicknesses (0.4 & 1mm). Methodology: Forty-two specimens will be sliced with two thicknesses (0.4 & 1mm) from Lithium di-silicate (e-max), Resin reinforced lithium di-silicate (vita Enamic), and Cerasmart blocks. Then water sorption of resin cement will be evaluated after curing through each specimen using a digital weight caliper. Results: Results showed a significant difference in water sorption between different materials, the lowest water sorption of resin cement was found under lithium disilicate (e.max) than that of Vita Enamic and Cerasmart samples. There wasn’t a significant difference between different thicknesses of Vita Enamic and Cerasmart blocks, However, in Emax samples, 1.0 mm thick samples had significantly higher water sorption values than samples with 0.4 mm thickness. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study it may be concluded that Lithium disilicate ceramic restorations allow more conversion of monomer to polymer in the underlying cement than polymer reinforced ceramic which allows a higher degree of conversion than resin Nanoceramics with the same thickness. Also, Hybrid ceramics with different thicknesses up to 1.0 mm have no significant effect on the water sorption of resin cement.