Bonding to zirconia: Effects of translucency and cusp inclinations using an experimental methodology

Purpose To investigate the effects of translucency and cusp inclination on the micro-shear bond strength (µSBS) of zirconia to self-adhesive resin cement (SARC).Methods Sixty U-shaped zirconia specimens with 1.0 mm thickness consisting of three planes (0°, 20°, and 30°) simulating different cusp inclinations were fabricated from zirconia blocks of high, moderate, and low translucency (n=20). SARC was bonded to the specimen and light-cured for 40 s. The µSBS was tested using a universal testing machine with a cross-head at a speed of 0.5 mm/min and fracture mode was observed using a stereomicroscope (×50). Two-way analysis of variance followed by a post hoc Tukey's honest significant difference test was used for the statistical analyses (α=0.05).Results Varied µSBS values were found in the test groups (7.1-14.9 MPa). Within the zirconia of the same translucency, the µSBS value of the plane 0° specimen was significantly higher than that of the 20° and 30° planes (all p<0.05). Within the zirconia of the same cusp inclination, the µSBS value of highly translucent zirconia was significantly higher than that of moderate and low translucent zirconia (all p<0.05). There was no significant interaction between cusp inclination and translucency (p=0.525). Among the fracture modes, 83.33% were adhesive failure, 11.11% mixed failure, and 5.56% were cohesive failure.Conclusions Translucency and cusp inclination significantly affect the µSBS of zirconia to SARC. The higher the translucency, the greater are the µSBS values; the higher the cusp inclination, the lower are the µSBS values.