Effects of laser treatments on surface roughness of zirconium oxide ceramics

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to analyze the surface roughness of yttrium stabilized tetragonal polycrystalline zirconia (Y-TZP) ceramics after different laser treatments (CO2, ER: YAG).Methods5x5x2 mm rectangular prisms of forty eight Y-TZP (Zirkonzahn) ceramic specimens were prepared. In order to standardize surfaces, 600-, 1200- grid silicon carbide papers were used to gradually ground wet on 300rpm grinding machine for 10s. Eight groups (n=6) were randomly formed from the specimens of each ceramic as control (GroupC), sandblasted (GroupS), two different CO2 laser treatments (Group3W: 3W and 382 w/cal, Group4W: 4W and 509w/cal) and four different Er: YAG laser treatments (Group150SP: 150mJ and 10-Hz with 100S; Group150SSP: 150mJ and 10-Hz with 300S; Group300SP: 300mJ and 10-Hz with 100S; Group300SSP: 300mJ and 10-Hz with 300S). A profilometer was used to conduct surface roughness measurements (Ra). Surface morphologies of the specimens were evaluated under SEM after laser treatment.ResultsTo analyze the data one-way ANOVA and to compare the mean values Tukey HSD tests (=.05) were used. One - way ANOVA results showed that Group S had the highest Ra value and Group150 SP had the lowest. After sandblasting group the highest value was seen in Group4W. There were no statistically significant differences among Group C, Group3W, Group150SSP, Group300SP, and Group300SSP.ConclusionsThe study showed that surface roughness of zirconium oxide ceramics was increased with CO2 laser.