Resin adhesion strengths to zirconia ceramics after primer treatment with silane coupling monomer or oligomer.

Resin bonding to zirconia ceramics is difficult to achieve using the standard methods for conventional silica-based dental ceramics, which employ silane coupling monomers as primers. The hypothesis in this study was that a silane coupling oligomer -a condensed product of silane coupling monomers- would be a more suitable primer for zirconia. To prove this hypothesis, the shear bond strengths between a composite resin and zirconia were compared after applying either a silane coupling monomer or oligomer. The shear bond strength increased after applying a non-activated ethanol solution of the silane coupling oligomer compared with that achieved when applying the monomer. Thermal treatment of the zirconia at 110°C after application of the silane coupling agents was essential to improve the shear bond strength between the composite resin cement and zirconia.