Objectives; The purpose of this research was to determine how various surface treatments (sandblasting & air atmospheric plasma treatment) and the micro shear protocol (Polyethylene tube and starch-based mold) affected the bonding strength to yttrium stabilized tetragonal zirconia (IPS e.max ZirCad).
Materials and Methods; 32 zirconia samples were prepared from IPS e.max ZirCad blocks (Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein) and according to surface treatment and type of mold used to fabricate resin micro cylinders, the ZirCad samples were categorized into four groups (n=8), S.S. group; Sandblasting surface treatment (50 µm alumina oxide) with Starch mold approach, S.P. group; Sandblasting with Polyethylene tube approach (TYGON S-030-H L Medical Tubing, United states), P.S. group; air atmospheric Plasma treatment (Piezobrush, Relyon plasma GMBH, Germany) with Starch mold approach and P.P. group; air atmospheric Plasma treatment with Polyethylene tube approach. Each IPS e.max ZirCad specimen bonded to five micro-cylinders of resin cement. A universal testing machine (Instron 3345, BOSTON, USA) was used to assess micro-shear bond strength (µSBS).
Statistical Analysis; The collected results (MPa) from micro shear bond strength tests were subjected to a two-way analysis of variance. (ANOVA)
Results; Revealed statistically significant higher μSBS values while using the starch-based template protocol. Also, the air atmospheric Plasma treatment surface treatment showed statistically significant higher μSBS values than sandblasting technique
Conclusion; air atmospheric Plasma treatment surface treatment showed better micro shear bond strength and Starch based template technique showed more accurate results for the micro shear bonding test.