Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness of erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser surface pretreatment at various pulse durations of exposure on increasing the tensile bonding strength of permanent soft relining material and acrylic resin. Materials and Methods: Polymethyl methacrylate resin samples were fabricated and grouped as comparison group (no laser surface pretreatment) and three test groups (received Er:YAG laser surface pretreatment at various pulse durations of 10 s, 20 s, and 30 s) for bonding with the permanent soft relining material, Molloplast B. Following the surface pretreatment, the samples were tested for tensile stress using a universal testing machine. Loads at the point of failure were noted and the tensile bond strength values were obtained. Parametric tests of one-way-ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc tests were done. Results: The highest tensile bonding strength was recorded in Group C, and the control group recorded the lowest bonding strength. Conclusion: Er:YAG laser surface pretreatment at 10 Hz, 3 W, and 300 mJ for 30 s improved the bonding strength of the permanent soft relining material to heat-processed acrylic resin material.