Abstract
Introduction: A biomimetic polymer that has been recently discovered for use as an underwater adhesive is poly(catechol-styrene), also known as, PCS. The purpose of this research paper is to determine the effects of PCS in dental primers and shear bond strength of G-Cement to zirconia ceramic. Methods: The PCS primer solutions were prepared with and without the addition of photoinitiator (PI) and co-initiator. PCS primer formulations were prepared at 5 w/w%, 1 w/w%, 0.5 w/w%, and 0.1 w/w% PCS concentrations in acetone. Shear bond strength of G-Cement to zirconia were tested after 24 hours, a week, and after thermocycling. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy was used to measure the conversion of UDMA in the absence of presence of PCS to determine if PCS was behaving as a radical scavenger. Results: Shear bond strength results showed that PCS did not improve bond strength to G-Cement to zirconia with the formulations used in this study. A trend of the higher the concentration of PCS in the dental primer the lower the bond strength was shown from the shear bond tests. Polymerization kinetics of UDMA in the presence of PCS determined that PCS is possibly acting as a radical scavenger therefore, decreasing the polymerization rate. The addition of photoinitiator/co-initiator to primer formulation improved bonding, but not to the level of the control. Conclusion: The addition of PCS in a dental primer does not improve bond strength for G-Cement to zirconia. Future efforts should focus on the addition of stabilizers to these formulations.