Comparing the Efficacy of Shear Bond Strength with Composite Attachments and Different Ceramic Surfaces-Zirconia, Lithium Disilicate, and Feldspathic Porcelain

Introduction: Dental practitioners utilize many different dental materials to fabricate durable and aesthetic fixed prostheses. The practitioners may not be considering the future treatment options of their patients. In the field of orthodontics, there have traditionally been concerns about the bond strength between brackets and ceramic crown materials. However, as the popularity of esthetic treatment options continues to grow, there will be increased importance in extending this bonding knowledge to the application of the composite buttons utilized in clear aligner therapies. Since this bonding performance with the crown materials has been shown to be an issue in dentistry today, we investigated the most retentive ceramicbased crown materials to deliver optimal composite shear bond strength for attachment buttons.

Methods: A search was performed on shear bond strength of composite resin materials to three common dental fixed prosthetic materials (zirconia, lithium disilicate, and feldspathic porcelain) from November 1997 to August 2020. The research study primer application, thermocycling controlled variables, and composite resin choice was assessed.

Results: The collective studies presented contradicting results due to the lack of controlled variables. An assessment was made based on the mean shear bond strengths of the several assessments conducted on each dental material. Using this knowledge, zirconia presented a slightly higher shear bond strength than the other two materials before applying thermocycling treatment; however, some studies with differing controlled variables contradict these findings.

Conclusion: Without conducting a direct research study with controlled variables comparing the three materials-with the same primer setup, thermocycling protocol, composite resin, and ceramic materials-it is difficult to compare the efficacy of their individual shear bond strengths. With the current knowledge assessed from the included literature, we can assume that zirconia has the highest shear bond strength before thermocycling, while lithium disilicate is strongest when using the thermocycling assessment.