Purpose: To evaluate the in vitro studies conducted in the last six years on new zirconia materials to discover and explore current trends in bonding composite cement to zirconia substrate.
Materials and methods: An in-depth review of the in vitro studies performed between 2010 and 2016 was conducted, focusing on the current trends in surface conditioning methods for zirconia ceramic. PubMed was used for searching the literature. Resin composite bonding to zirconia, zirconia surface coating, and zirconia surface treatment method were the keywords used. Complete scientific articles were reviewed and evaluated for appropriateness.
Results: The literature survey showed a variety of surface treatment techniques comprising grit blasting (laboratory or chairside) with or without silica-coated alumina particles, the use of materials containing phosphate monomers, different silanes and primers, laser irradiation, Si vapor-phase deposition, and selective infiltration etching.
Conclusions: The problem of composite cement bonding to zirconia has yet to be definitively solved. Nevertheless, the application of phosphate monomer on tribochemically silica-coated zirconia surfaces is currently the least complicated and most efficaceous means of bonding composite cement to zirconia. Selective infiltration etching seems to be a promising technique for establishing a durable bond between composite cement and zirconia, and should be studied further.