“…Then, twenty specimens (n = 20) of each condition were subjected to an cyclic fatigue test under water in an electrodynamic machine (Instron ElectroPuls E3000, Instron Corporation, Norwood, MA, United States). A stainless-steel sphere ( = 40 mm) [20,22,25,26] was used to apply the load at the center of the specimen (i.e., center of the occlusal surface), which was positioned inside an attached cylindrical metal ring stabilized in a flat steel base. An adhesive tape (110 m) was fixed on the occlusal side of the specimens to improve contact with the sphere [27], and an additional thin sheet of a non-rigid material (cellophane, 2.5 m) was placed between the piston and the specimen to better distribute the contact surface pressure according to previous studies using the same methodology [22,28].…”