Effect of surface modifications on the bond strength of zirconia ceramic with resin cement resin.

Objectives Purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of surface modifications on the tensile bond strength between zirconia ceramic and resin. Methods Zirconia ceramic surfaces were treated with 150-μm abrasive alumina particles, 150-μm abrasive zirconia particles, argon-ion bombardment, gas plasma, and piranha solution (H 2 SO 4 :H 2 O 2 = 3:1). In addition, slip casting surfaces were examined. Untreated surfaces were used as the control group. Tensile bond strengths (TBS) were measured after water storage for 3 days or 150 days with additional 37,500 thermal cycling for artificial aging. Statistical analyses were performed with 1-way and 3-way ANOVA , followed by comparison of means with the Tukey HSD test. Results After storage in distilled water for three days at 37 °C, the highest mean tensile bond strengths (TBS) were observed for zirconia ceramic surfaces abraded with 150-μm abrasive alumina particles (TBS AAP = 37.3 MPa, TBS CAAP = 40.4 MPa), and 150-μm abrasive zirconia particles (TBS AZP = 34.8 MPa, TBS CAZP = 35.8 MPa). Also a high TBS was observed for specimens treated with argon-ion bombardment (TBS BAI = 37.8 MPa). After 150 days of storage, specimens abraded with 150-μm abrasive alumina particles and 150-μm abrasive zirconia particles revealed high TBS (TBS AAP = 37.6 MPa, TBS CAAP = 33.0 MPa, TBS AZP = 22.1 MPa and TBS CAZP = 22.8 MPa). A high TBS was observed also for specimens prepared with slip casting (TBS SC = 30.0 MPa). A decrease of TBS was observed for control specimens (TBS UNT = 12.5 MPa, TBS CUNT = 9.0 MPa), specimens treated with argon-ion bombardment (TBS BAI = 10.3 MPa) and gas plasma (TBS GP = 11.0 MPa). A decrease of TBS was observed also for specimens treated with piranha solution (TBS PS = 3.9 MPa, TBS CPS = 4.1 MPa). A significant difference in TBS after three days storage was observed for specimens treated with different methods ( p < 0.001). Thermal cycling significantly reduced TBS for all groups ( p < 0.001) excluding groups: AAP( p > 0.05), CAAP( p > 0.05) and SC( p > 0.05). However, the failure patterns of debonded specimens prepared with 150-μm abrasive zirconia particles were 96.7% cohesive. Conclusion Treatment of zirconia ceramic surfaces with abrasive zirconia particles is a promising method to increase the tensile bond strength without significant damage of the ceramic surface itself. An alternative promising method is slip casting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]