ABSTRACT Background: resin cement type and intraoral temperature fluctuations may affect the fracture performance of successful zirconia restorations. To fill this gap, the purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the influence of thermocycling on fracture resistance and mode of failure of monolithic zirconia crowns luted with Rely X™ U200 and BreezeTMself-adhesive resin cements as well as imply the effect of adding 2 % of polylysine (PLS) to these cements. Materials: 64 maxillary premolars were milled out of zirconia blocks using CAD/CAM milling system. They were divided into four groups (n = 16) according to the cement type. Four different resin cements were used (RelyXTMU200, Breeze™, RelyX™ U200 with 2 % PLS and Breeze™ with 2%PLS). Each group was further subdivided into experimental and control groups (n = 8). The experimental specimens were exposed to thermocycling protocol of 10,000 cycles in water bath at 5 ◦C and 55 ◦C.Each specimen was subjected to axial load until fracture using universal testing machine. Fracture modes were analyzed using digital microscope. Data were statistically analyzed using paired t-test at a level of significance of 0.05. Results: there was a statistical significant difference in fracture load among groups (p < 0.05) with the highest mean in Rely X cement. Although the fracture loads statistically decreased after thermocycling (p < 0.05) there was no significant effect on the addition of 2 % PLS (p > 0.05). Microscopical analysis demonstrated a majority of catastrophic mode of fracture. Conclusion: both cement type and thermocycling exert significant effects on fracture resistance of premolars crowns restored with monolithic zirconia, while the addition of 2 % PLS exerted negligible effec
