Effect of different surface treatments on the shear bond strength of resin cement to zirconia ceramic and metal alloy*

The bonding of resin cement to ceramic materials plays an important role in dentistry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of various surface treatments on the shear bond strength (SBS) of zirconia ceramic and metal alloy. A total of 60 specimens were prepared from Y-TZP ceramic and metal alloy. The specimens were divided into three subgroups (n = 10) that received different surface treatments for each material. An Er:YAG laser (ER), a femtosecond laser (FS), and air-borne particle abrasion (A) were employed as surface treatments. One specimen from each group was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at 500 x magnification after surface treatments. The self-adhesive resin cement was then bonded to the treated surfaces using a Teflon mold. The specimens were thermocycled for 5,000 cycles at 5–55 °C, and then the SBS test was performed. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests were used to determine the differences between the groups (p = 0.05), and failure modes were evaluated for each specimen. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences between the surface treatment methods. The mean SBS values of the air-borne particle-abraded groups were higher than those of the other groups. The femtosecond-irradiated groups of each material showed significantly higher SBS values than the Er:YAG-irradiated groups (p < 0.05). Within the limitations of this study, air-borne particle abrasion and the femtosecond laser were more effective than Er:YAG laser treatment.