Objectives: This study investigated the influence of a silica-coating method on the resin bond of two different resin composite cements to the intaglio surface of Procera AllCeram densely sintered, high-purity, alumina ceramic restorations after long-term storage and thermocycling.
Method and materials: Densely sintered alumina ceramic specimens were fabricated with the intaglio surface of the Procera AlICeram coping and randomly divided into five adhesive groups (100 total specimens). Resin composite cylinders were bonded either to the untreated or to the tribochemical silica/silane-coated ceramic surface with either a conventional Bis-GMA resin cement or a resin composite containing an adhesive phosphate monomer (Panavia 21) in combination with their corresponding bonding/silane coupling agents. Panavia was also used without silanization to the untreated ceramic surface (control). Subgroups of 10 specimens were stored in distilled water for either 3 (baseline) or 180 days prior to shear bond strength testing. The 180-day samples were subjected to repeated thermocycling for a total of 12,000 cycles. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's multiple comparison.
Results: Silica coating significantly increased overall bond strength to Procera AllCeram. RelyX ARC and silica coating revealed the highest bond strength at baseline. Long-term storage and thermocycling significantly decreased overall bond strength. Two groups revealed the significantly highest bond strength values after artificial aging: Panavia 21 with its silane/bonding agent to the original ceramic surface and Panavia 21 to the silica-coated ceramic surface.
Conclusion: The use of a resin composite containing an adhesive phosphate monomer either in combination with a silane coupling/bonding agent or after tribochemical silica/silane coating revealed the highest long-term shear bond strength to the intaglio surface of Procera AllCeram restorations.