The purpose of the present study was to examine the marginal adaptation of
ceramic veneers to dentin at the cervical margins and to enamel at the pala
toincisal margins using four dual-curing composite resin cements of differe
nt viscosity with their corresponding dentin bonding systems. Thirty-six ca
ries-free human maxillary incisors were prepared for facial ceramic veneers
with cervical cavity margins located in dentin. Heat-pressed glass-ceramic
veneers (IPS Empress) were inserted adhesively using one of the following
luting systems: Sono-Cem (SC) with EBS; Variolink Ultra (VU), Variolink Hig
h Viscosity (VHV), and Variolink Low Viscosity (VLV) with Syntac. Both the
cervical and the palatoincisal margins of the veneers (tooth/composite resi
n cement interface and ceramic/composite resin cement interface) were evalu
ated before and after thermocycling and mechanical loading (TCML) by quanti
tative margin analysis under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) using an
image analysis system. Microleakage was assessed by dye penetration after T
CML. Before TCML, SC and VU showed statistically significantly fewer margin
al gaps than VHV and VLV, After TCML, SC, VU, and VHV revealed significantl
y fewer marginal gaps than VLV, TCML had a statistically significant influe
nce on marginal gap formation at both the dentin and enamel margins. After
TCML, the percentage of marginal gaps was not significantly different at th
e cervical dentin than at the palatoincisal enamel margins. Cervical dye pe
netration after in microleakage among the four luting systems. In conclusio
n,this in vitro study showed that similarly favorable marginal adaptations
of ceramic veneers to dentin and enamel can be achieved using Sono-Cem, Var
iolink Ultra, or Variolink High Viscosity with their corresponding dentin b
onding systems.