Chipping of veneering is the most common clinical complication for zirconia restorations. Veneering composite could be a promising alternative to renew restorations. Zirconia discs (3-YSZ) were prepared with varying surface treatments and bonded to indirect composite as follows: air abrasion and Scotchbond Universal (A/SU); air abrasion and Clearfil Ceramic Primer (A/C); air abrasion and MKZ Primer (A/M); air abrasion and Monobond Plus (A/MP); silica-coating and Scotchbond Universal (S/SU); air abrasion (AP/SU), additional cold atmospheric plasma treatment, and Scotchbond Universal. An indirect composite material was then applied to the zirconia specimens. Specimens were divided into subgroups for short-term (14 days storage at 37 °C and 5000 thermal cycles) and long-term (250 days storage and 37,500 thermal cycles) artificial aging. Shear bond strength measurement (SBS) was performed, and data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis-test and multiple comparison testing with Dunn's correction (p ≤ 0.05). The median SBS values (MPa) of short- and long-term artificial aging were: 3.09/1.36 (A/SU); 0.77/1.43 (S/SU); 2.82/2.15 (AP/SU); 1.97/1.80 (A/C); 2.01/1.58 (A/M); and 1.70/1.68 (A/MP). For short-term artificial aging A/SU showed the highest median SBS values, whereas in the long-term trial, AP/SU showed the highest values and the difference was significant. A prolonged artificial aging decreased SBS in all groups, except S/SU. In summary, treatment with CAP can improve SBS in the long-term.
Keywords: air abrasion; cold atmospheric plasma; energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy; shear bond strength; silica-coating; surface treatments; veneering composite; yttrium-stabilized-zirconium; zirconium.