Durability of bond between an indirect composite veneering material and zirconium dioxide ceramics.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the durability of bond strength between an indirect composite material and zirconia ceramics after thermocycling (100 000 cycles) and to assess the effect of various priming agents for zirconia surface treatments.

Materials And Methods: A CAD/CAM system (Katana, Noritake Dental Supply) was used to fabricate 96 zirconia disks as a bonding substrate. The specimens were randomly divided into six groups (n = 16) and treated with one of the following acidic priming agents: Alloy Primer (ALP, Kuraray), Clearfil Ceramic Primer (CCP, Kuraray), Clearfil Photo Bond (CPB, Kuraray), Clearfil Photo Bond with Clearfil Porcelain Bond Activator (CPB + Activator, Kuraray), Estenia Opaque Primer (EOP, Kuraray) and Porcelain Liner M Liquid A (PLA, Sun Medical). The specimens were bonded with an indirect composite material (Estenia C&B Dentin, Kuraray). Shear bond strengths were tested before and after 100 000 thermocycles and the data were analyzed by using the Steel-Dwass test and Mann-Whitney U-test.

Results: After 100 000 thermocycles, the PLA group showed the lowest bond strength (p = 0.010), whereas the CPB + Activator (23.9 MPa; p < 0.014) and CPB (22.7 MPa; p < 0.028) groups had significantly higher bond strengths than the other groups. The Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that bond strengths did not significantly decrease after thermocycling, except for specimens in the PLA (p = 0.038) and CCP (p = 0.028) groups.

Conclusions: Application of a combination of hydrophobic phosphate monomer (MDP) and initiator results in a durable long-term bond between Katana zirconia and Estenia C&B composite material.