Porcelain veneer bonding to enamel with plasma-arc light resin curing

The resin bond strength of plasma-arc curing in restorative dentistry was investigated in comparison to halogen-light curing with respect to two kinds of thickness, shade and opacity of porcelain laminate veneers. The bond strength of the light-cured resin was evaluated by shear tests and SEM observations of the fracture surfaces, and the results were interpreted in terms of the degree of resin polymerization. It was found that plasma-arc curing for 6 s was sufficient to obtain bond strengths similar to those of specimens polymerized with halogen light for 40 s, whereas the plasma-arc curing time needed to be doubled to 12 s in order to achieve similar failure patterns for a darker-shade porcelain of 2 mm thickness. The bond strength achieved by plasma-arc curing was found to be relatively unaffected by the shade or opacity of porcelain.