The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of acidic primers on adhesive bonding to sintered aluminum oxide (alumina). Alumina disks were primed with one of the following materials: Acryl Bond, All Bond 2 Primer B, Alloy Primer, Estenia Opaque Primer, Eye Sight Opaque Primer, M.L. Primer, MR. Bond, and Super-Bond Liquid. Specimens were then bonded with an acrylic resin initiated with partially oxidized tri-n-butylborane (TBBO), and bond strengths were determined. Unprimed specimen was employed as the control. Average bond strength before thermocycling ranged from 20.5 to 41.9 MPa, whereas post-thermocycling bond strength ranged from 0.0 to 40.0 MPa. Of the eight primers, Estenia Opaque Primer and Alloy Primer showed better adhesive performance than the other materials. It could thus be concluded that either Estenia Opaque Primer or Alloy Primer--which contained an adhesive monomer, 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP)--was recommended for bonding alumina with TBBO-initiated resin.