Bond strength of universal adhesives to air-abraded zirconia ceramics

The bond strength of universal adhesives to air-abraded zirconia ceramic was evaluated. Overall, 40 zirconia ceramic blocks with dimensions of 6 × 6 × 4 mm were cut from pre-sintered blanks. The sintered blocks were embedded in self-cured acrylic resin. The zirconia blocks were then randomly allocated to four groups (n = 10) in which different universal adhesives were used, except for the control group in which no universal adhesive was used. A silicon mold was used to build the resin cement. All specimens were stored in distilled water for 24 h at 37°C and mounted on a universal testing machine. They were then subjected to shear bond strength testing at a cross-speed of 0.5 mm/min until failure occurred. The failure modes were analyzed using a digital microscope at 50× magnification. Univariate one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post-hoc test were used for statistical analysis. Compared with the control group, the groups with universal adhesives showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in the bond strengths of the groups with universal adhesives (P > 0.05). After 24 h of storage, the cementation bond to air-abraded zirconia ceramic was improved by the application of a universal adhesive.