Dilemmas in zirconia bonding: A review

This article presents a literature review on the resin bond to zirconia ceramic. Modern esthetic dentistry has highly recognized zirconia, among other ceramic materials. Biocompatibility of zirconia, chemical and dimensional stability, excellent mechanical properties, all together could guarantee optimal therapeutical results in complex prosthodontic reconstruction. On the other hand, low thermal degradation, aging of zirconia as well as problematic bonding of zirconia framework to dental luting cements and tooth structures, opened the room for discussion concerning their clinical durability. The well known methods of mechanical and chemical bonding used on glass-ceramics are not applicable for use with zirconia. Therefore, under critical clinical situations, selection of the bonding mechanism should be focused on two important points: high initial bond strength value and long term bond strength between zirconia-resin interface. Also, this paper emphases the use of phosphate monomer luting cements on freshly air-abraded zirconia as the simplest and most effective way for zirconia cementation procedure today.