In this study two experimental methods were used to improve the tensile strength of self-curing PMMA bone cement : plasma-induced and plasma-state polymerization. A procedure was also developed for room temperature self-curing of PMMA resin. Experimental samples of cement were tested for tensile strength. The tensile test results indicate that additions of PMMA powder reduce the strength of self-curing PMMA bone cement. Plasma-induced PMMA can increase the molecular weight of an MMA and PMMA matrix; however, the matrix tensile strength does not increase as much as would be expected from its greater molecular weight. The lower values were most probably due to an extremely high viscosity matrix. The most significant finding is that plasma-treated zirconium oxide powder can improve the tensile strength of self-curing PMMA bone cement.