Shear bond strength of a resin cement to densely sintered high-purity alumina with various surface conditions

Procera Sandvik AB is now manufacturing a densely sintered high-purity alumina core for an all-ceramic crown designed for anterior and posterior restorations. Whereas the material holds promise on the basis of in vitro strength tests, the ability to alter the surface and use conventional bonded resin cements has not been reported previously in the literature. Samples of the core were treated by means of one of four methods routinely used for all ceramic restorations, and then a commercially available resin cement was bonded to the surface. A shear bond test of the adhesion showed that the highest shear bond strengths of 11.99 +/- 3.12 MPa were obtained with air abrasion at 80 psi and 50-mu m alumina particles.