Microtensile Bond Strength of Resin-bonded Hightranslucency Zirconia Using Different Surface Treatments

To evaluate the effect of a novel surface treatment intended to improve bond strength to high-translucency zirconia.

Fully sintered high-translucency zirconia disks (Incoris TZI) were divided into four groups according to the surface treatment received: modified fusion sputtering technique, selective infiltration etching, low pressure particle abrasion using 30-μm alumina particles, while 50-μm particle abrasion served as control. Surface roughness was evaluated quantitatively using a contact profilometer. The disks were bonded to pre-aged composite resin disks using a light-polymerized adhesive resin (RelyX ultimate). The bilayered disks were sectioned into microbars and zirconia-resin bond strength was evaluated using the microtensile bond strength test (MTBS). The test was repeated after 3 months of water storage (37°C). Scanning electron microscopic examination of the zirconia resin interface was performed at different magnifications. A repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test were used to analyze the data (n = 20, α = 0.05).

One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in average surface roughness (Ra) between the tested groups (p < 0.001). The highest Ra value was recorded for fusion sputtering (12.23 ± 0.11 μm), followed by 50-μm particle abrasion (6.400 ± 0.887), then low pressure 30-μm particle abrasion (2.4 ± 0.15 μm), while the lowest surface roughness was recorded for the selective infiltration group (0.368 ± 0.04 μm). Modified fusion sputtering and selective infiltration etching produced significantly higher MTBS values at each of the tested intervals (p < 0.001) compared to particle abrasion using different particle sizes. Water storage resulted in reduction in the bond strength of 30-μm abraded specimens, which was attributed to structural defects observed at the zirconia/ resin interface. Scanning electron microscopic examination revealed a nanoporous surface characteristic of selective etching surface treatment, and modified fusion sputtering resulted in the creation of surface-fused microbeads.

Within the limitations of this study, selective infiltration etching and modified fusion sputtering techniques established a strong, stable, durable bond to high-translucency zirconia.