Surface Treatment: Durability of Alumina Ceramic Bonded to Resin Cement

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength and bond durability between a dual resin cement and a high alumina ceramic (In-Ceram Alumina), submitted to two surface treatments. Methods: Forty disc-shaped specimens (sp) (4 mm in diameter and 5 mm thick) were fabricated from the In-Ceram alumina and were initially divided in two groups (n=20) in accordance to the surface treatments: (1) sandblasting by aluminum oxide particles (SB) and (2) silica coating using the Cojet system (SC). After bonding the 40 specimens to the dual resin cement (RC), they were stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 h. After this period, the sp of each group were divided into 2 conditions of storage: a) Dry – shear bond test immediately after cementation; b) Aging – thermocycling (TC) – (12,000 times, 5°C to 55°C) and water storage (150 d). The shear test was performed in a universal test machine (0.5 mm/min). Results: After ANOVA and Tukey (5%) test, it was verified that there was not statistically significant difference in the bond strength values (MPa) between the two surface treatments. However, the groups had presented statistically significant difference after the experimental conditions of storage and thermocycling. The following values were obtained (MPa/SD): G1 (SB-Dry): 8.2 ± 4.6; G2 (SB-Aging): 3.7 ± 2.5; G3 (SC-Dry): 8.6 ± 2.2; G4 (SC-Aging): 3.5 ± 3.1. Conclusion: It was concluded that the bond strength between dual resin cement and a high alumina ceramic are not influenced by the surface treatment methods and the bond durability was influenced by the storage and thermocycling condition.