Effects of extreme cooling methods on mechanical properties and shear bond strength of bilayered porcelain/3Y-TZP specimens.

OBJECTIVES This study investigated the effect of extreme cooling methods on the flexural strength, reliability and shear bond strength of veneer porcelain for zirconia. METHODS Vita VM9 porcelain was sintered on zirconia bar specimens and cooled by one of the following methods: inside a switched-off furnace (slow), at room temperature (normal) or immediately by compressed air (fast). Three-point flexural strength tests (FS) were performed on specimens with porcelain under tension (PT, n=30) and zirconia under tension (ZT, n=30). Shear bond strength tests (SBS, n=15) were performed on cylindrical blocks of porcelain, which were applied on zirconia plates. Data were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc tests (p<0.05). Weibull analysis was performed on the PT and ZT configurations. RESULTS One-way ANOVA for the PT configuration was significant, and Tukey's test revealed that fast cooling leads to significantly higher values (p<0.01) than the other cooling methods. One-way ANOVA for the ZT configuration was not significant (p=0.06). Weibull analysis showed that normal cooling had slightly higher reliability for both the PT and ZT configurations. Statistical tests showed that slow cooling decreased the SBS value (p<0.01) and showed less adhesive fracture modes than the other cooling methods. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Slow cooling seems to affect the veneer resistance and adhesion to the zirconia core; however, the reliability of fast cooling was slightly lower than that of the other methods.