Effect of Surface Treatment with Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser on Bond Strength between Cement Resin and Zirconia

Since it is not possible to form an adequate micromechanical bond between resin cement and zirconia ceramics using common surface treatment techniques, laser pretreatment has been suggested for zirconia ceramic surfaces. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser treatment on shear bond strength (SBS) of resin cement to zirconia ceramic. In this in vitro study thirty discs of zirconia with a diameter of 6 mm and a thickness of 2 mm were randomly divided into two groups of 15. In the test group the zirconia disc surfaces were irradiated by CO2 laser with an output power of 3 W and energy density of 265.39j/cm2. Composite resin discs were fabricated by plastic molds, measuring 3 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness and were cemented on zirconia disk surfaces with Panavia F2.0 resin cement (Kuraray Co. Ltd, Osaka, Japan). Shear bond strength was measured by a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The fracture type was assessed under a stereomicroscope at ×40. Surface morphologies of two specimens of the test group were evaluated under SEM before and after laser pretreatment. Data was analyzed by paired t-test (p value < 0.05). The mean SBS values of the laser and control groups were 12.12 ± 3.02 and 5.97 ± 1.14 MPa, respectively. Surface treatment with CO2 laser significantly increased SBS between resin cement and zirconia ceramic (p value = 0.001). Under the limitations of this study, surface treatment with CO2 laser increased the SBS between resin cement and the zirconia ceramic.