For long-term successful use of ceramic materials in dental procedures, it is necessary to ensure reliable bonding of restorations to dental substrates. This can be achieved by the application of a proper luting cement and through additional surface conditioning. The present systematic review summarizes the most up-to-date evidence on the use of different surface modification methods to enhance the bond strength of dental ceramics to the hard tissues of the teeth. The authors of the review searched the Web of Science, Scopus, and MEDLINE databases to identify relevant articles published between 1 January 2010 and 1 January 2020. A total of 4892 records were identified, and after screening, the full text of 159 articles was evaluated, which finally resulted in the inclusion of 19 studies. The available reports were found to be heterogeneous in terms of materials and methodology, and therefore, only within-studies comparison was performed instead of comparison between studies. A statistically significant difference in the bond strength between the samples treated with different methods of surface conditioning, or between conditioned and nonconditioned samples, was revealed by most of the studies. Predominantly, the studies showed that a combination of mechanical and chemical methods was the most effective way of enhancing bond strength. Artificial aging and luting cement were also identified as the factors significantly influencing bond strength.
Keywords: adhesion; artificial aging; dental ceramic restoration; dentin; enamel; luting agent; resin cement; surface conditioning; surface modification; teeth.