Strengthen adhesion between zirconia and resin cement using different surface modifications

The aim of this research was to assess the influence of different surface modifications on the bond strength between resin cement and zirconia ceramics. Eighty-four zirconium samples were prepared. Four different surface treatments were applied; nano-alumina coating, 2 minutes gas-phase fluorination, 50 μm alumina airborne-particle abrasion, and 50 μm airborne-particle abrasion + 2 minutes gas-phase fluorination. Then specimens were bonded to resin cement. Half of the samples were then incubated in 37°C distilled water for 24 hours. The remaining samples were subjected to thermocycling for 5000 cycles. Shear-bond strength testing was applied at a cross head speed of 5 mm/s. Two-way ANOVA was used in comparison between groups. There is a significant difference between the groups with 5000 cycles and the groups with 24 hours of water cycling. The highest shear-bond strength values were observed in the groups with airborne-particle abrasion + 2 minutes fluorination (27.57 MPa) and nano-alumina coating (26.45 MPa) which were not subjected to thermal cycling. Nano-alumina coating of the zirconia surface and the 2 minutes gas-phase fluorination method following airborne-particle abrasion process increased bond strength between resin cement and zirconia.