The production of dental restorations made from lithium disilicate via (CAD/CAM) technique necessitates thermal treating, a critical action that influences the optical and mechanical characteristics of ceramics. The main goal of this study was to investigate how using various thermal refinement processes and thicknesses affected the flexural strength and translucency of lithium disilicate glass-ceramic for CAD/CAM applications. This was achieved by taking the measurements of the total light transmission using a spectrophotometer through the specimens and determining the maximum loading at fracture using a piston-on-three-ball test.
Results showed that thicker specimens exhibited reduced translucency and decreased flexural strength (p < 0.05). In addition, the biaxial flexural strength was highest in the thermally processed lithium disilicates at 820 degrees (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, for each temperature group, a significant difference was seen only between0.5 mm and 2 mm (p < 0.05).
These results suggest that translucency and strength may be adjusted to suit clinical requirements by selecting appropriate thicknesses and thermal refining procedures.