Yttria-stabilized zirconia (3Y-TZP) containing 0.25% Al2O3, which is resistant to low temperature degradation (LTD), was aged for 10 h at 130-220 °C in air. The aged specimens were subsequently indented at loads ranging from 9.8 to 490 N using a Vickers indenter. The influence of preaging temperature on the biaxial strength of the specimens was investigated to elucidate the relationship between the extent of LTD and the strength of zirconia restorations that underwent LTD. The indented strength of the specimens increased as the preaging temperature was increased higher than 160 °C, which was accompanied by extensive t-ZrO2 (t) to m-ZrO2 (m) and c-ZrO2 (c) to r-ZrO2 (r) phase transformations. The influence of preaging temperature on the indented strength was rationalized by the residual stresses raised by the t→m transformation and the reversal of tensile residual stress on the aged specimen surface due to the indentation. The results suggested that the longevity of restorations would not be deteriorated if the aged restorations retain compressive residual stress on the surface, which corresponds to the extent of t→m phase transformation less than 52% in ambient environment.
Keywords: Vickers indentation; aging; biaxial strength; phase transformation; zirconia.