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Lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (LS2) can be biomimetically textured by crystal orientation, mimicking the microstructure of dental enamel and inducing anisotropic mechanical responses to crack growth. The deliberate texturization of LS2 plays to the clinical advantage of reinforcing weak sites of typical fracture initiation in dental prosthetic constructs. Similar to enamel, adhesion of biomimetically textured LS2 could also show anisotropic behavior. Therefore, tensile bond strength (TBS) before and after thermocycling (TC) and interfacial characterization of biomimetically textured LS2 (parallel (PAR) or perpendicular (PER) crystal orientation) after different pre-treatment modes (hydrofluoric acid etching (HFE), grit blasting (GBL) and self-etching glass-ceramic primer (SGP)) were investigated. TC reduced significantly TBS for all specimens except for GBL. Biomimetic textured LS2 after HFE showed anisotropic behavior regarding adhesion. Crystal orientation reduced TBS for the PER HFE specimens after TC significantly. In general, the TBS of HFE specimens was still higher or not significantly lower compared to other pre-treatment modes like GBL or SGP. For the GBL and SGP specimens, crystal orientation had no influence on TBS and interfacial characteristics. In contrast HFE specimens showed different interfacial characteristics depending if they were PAR or PER texturized. Based on these findings, HFE of biomimetic textured LS2 can be recommended. For bonding, the PAR orientation is recommended as its adhesion potential is less prone to degrade.

Most dental ceramics are produced from partially crystallized glass. Even though these materials are hard, they are extremely susceptible to damage, especially due to the glass phase content. A strategy for strengthening these materials makes use of their microstructure to form reinforcing sites within the structural design. Such approach has potential for application with lithium disilicate (LS 2 ) glass–ceramics, which contain needle-form Li 2 Si 2 O 5 crystals that deflect oncoming cracks. By press injection of the glass melt through specifically oriented injection channels, crystals are aligned in patterns that lead to high mechanical anisotropy. Here we apply this approach in the context of monolithic dental bridges simulated by beams under 3-point bending. Notches at different distances from the midspan play the role of connectors, and the mixed-mode fracture toughness is measured at varying positions for a LS 2 and a 3Y-TZP material. A strong anisotropic fracture behavior is obtained with the LS 2 glass–ceramic through local crystal alignment, leading to fracture energies higher than for the isotropic 3Y-TZP ceramic. Further, the anisotropic nature of the LS 2 microstructure is successfully reproduced in dental bridge geometries, validating the use of bending beams for the study of the mechanical behavior of ceramic dental bridges.