ObjectiveThis study analyzed the degree of conversion (DC%) of four resin-based cements
(All Ceram, Enforce, Rely X ARC and Variolink II) activated by two modes (chemical
and dual), and evaluated the decrease of DC% in the dual mode promoted by the
interposition of a 2.0-mm-thick IPS Empress 2 disc.Material and MethodsIn the chemical activation, the resin-based cements were prepared by mixing equal
amounts of base and catalyst pastes. In the dual activation, after mixing, the
cements were light-activated at 650 mW/cm2 for 40 s. In a third group,
the cements were lightactivated through a 2.0-mm-thick IPS Empress 2 disc. The DC%
was evaluated in a FT-IR spectrometer equipped with an attenuated total
reflectance crystal (ATR). The data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD
test.ResultsFor all resin-based cements, the DC% was significantly higher with dual
activation, followed by dual activation through IPS Empress 2, and chemical
activation (p<0.05). Irrespective of the activation mode, Rely X presented the
highest DC% (p<0.05). Chemically activated Variolink and All Ceram showed the
worst results (p<0.05). The DC% decreased significantly when activation was
performed through a 2.0-mm-thick IPS Empress 2 disc (p<0.05).ConclusionsThe results of the present study suggest that resin-based cements could present
low DC% when the materials are dually activated through 2.0 mm of reinforced
ceramic materials with translucency equal to or less than that of IPS-Empress
2.