RESUMO
PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser irradiation on the surface properties and bond strength of zirconia ceramics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight zirconia ceramic pieces (4 × 4 × 1 mm3 ) were divided into four groups according to surface treatment as follows: two control groups (no treatment) for resin bonding (CRC) and glass ionomer (GI) bonding (CGC); two laser treatment groups (Nd:YAG irradiation, 3 W, 200 MJ, 10 Hz, 180 µs) for resin bonding (LRC) and GI bonding (LGC). The ceramics in the control groups and the laser groups were distinguished by the application of different cements (resin cement and GI). Following surface treatments, the specimens were cemented to human dentin with resin cement and GI. After bonding, the shear bond strength (SBS) of the ceramic to dentin was measured, and the failure mode of each specimen was analyzed using a stereomicroscope. A one-way ANOVA compared the average bond strength of the four groups. Pairwise comparisons among the groups were performed using the Games-Howell test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The means (± standard deviation) of SBS values in the CRC, CGC, LRC, and LGC groups were 3.98 ± 1.10, 1.66 ± 0.59, 10.24 ± 2.46, and 2.21 ± 0.38 MPa, respectively. Data showed that the application of the Nd:YAG laser resulted in a significantly greater SBS of the resin cement to the zirconia ceramics (p < 0.001). The highest bond strength was recorded in the LRC group. In the CRC group, 75% of the failures were of the adhesive type, compared with 66.7% and 83.3% in the LRC and LGC groups, respectively. In the CGC group, all failures were adhesive. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment of zirconia ceramic via Nd:YAG laser improves the bond strength of the resin cement to the zirconia ceramic. GI cement does not provide sufficient bond strength of zirconia ceramics to dentin.