Evaluation of Efficacy of Various Surface Conditioning Methods on the Repair Bond Strength of Composite to Different Fracture Types of Zirconia Ceramics

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different surface treatment methods on shear bond strength between composite resin and different levels of zirconia ceramic. Laser surface-conditioning procedures have been reported as effective method to increase repair bond strength of composite to zirconia ceramics. Detailed information of effects of Er,Cr:YSGG laser treatment with different pulse rates on the zirconia ceramics is lacking in the literature. 120 disc-shaped specimens were prepared including zirconia, veneering ceramic, and 50% veneering ceramic-50% zirconia surfaces. Four different surface treatments were applied to the specimens. These were grinding with diamond bur, sandblasting, and short and long pulse rates of Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation. An intraoral ceramic repair kit was used to repair specimens, and shear bond strength was performed on the composite resin to each specimen. The highest mean bond strength was seen in the veneering ceramic surface that was ground using a diamond bur, and the lowest mean bond strength value was observed in the same surface that was treated with long pulse laser irradiation. The sandblasting with alumina particles exhibited lower mean repairing bond strength among the rest of used methods in this study for the group which contained half of the veneering ceramic and half of the zirconia. Sandblasting and Er,Cr:YSGG laser using surface treatment procedures obtained appropriate bond strength for the group that included 50% veneering ceramic-50% zirconia, because of no significant differences observed among the applied surface conditioning methods in this group.