Thermocycling effect on microshear bond strength to zirconia ceramic using Er:YAG and tribochemical silica coating as surface conditioning

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the thermocycling effect on the microshear bond strength (μSBS) of different self-adhesive resin cements to zirconia using tribochemical silica coating Rocatec™ (ROC) and Er:YAG as surface conditioners. Two hundred forty square-like zirconia samples were polished and randomly assigned in four groups according surface treatment applied as follows: (1) no treatment (NT), (2) silica coating with ROC, 3) Er:YAG laser irradiation (LAS: 2.940 nm, 200 mJ; 10 Hz), and (4) laser followed by Rocatec™ (LAROC). Each group was divided into two subgroups according the resin tested as follows: (A) BiFix SE (BIF) and (B) Clearfil SA (CLE). After 24 h, half of the specimens from each subgroup were tested. The other half was stored and thermocycled (5–55 °C/5,000 cycles). A μSBS test was performed using a universal testing machine (cross head speed = 0.5 mm/min). Failure modes were recorded and observed by scanning electronic microscopy. Data was analyzed with ANOVA, Student’s t test, and chi-square tests, and linear regression was performed (p < 0.05). Before thermocycling, both cements showed higher μSBS results with ROC and LAROC. After aging, (1) all BIF specimens evidenced severely decreased adhesion with mostly adhesive failures and (2) CLE maintained the initial results in ROC and LAROC groups, performing better with ROC. Thermocycling did not negatively influence the resin–zirconia μSBS results in the self-adhesive resin cement containing 10-MDP when used on zirconia surface coated with silica, independently of previous Er:YAG surface treatment.