A method for evaluating the heat resistance of structural ceramics according to which the thermally stressed state is created by blowing a directed air flow into the tip of a notch in a heated prismatic specimen is presented. For this purpose a special complexly shaped notch is formed in order to provide free inflow of the air to its tip. The radius of curvature of the notch in alumina ceramics is 5 Μm. In blowing, the heat is removed predominantly from a local volume at the tip of the notch, thus providing a “local” thermal shock. The heat resistance of alumina ceramics obtained by sintering and reaction bonding is studied. The mechanical properties of Al2O3 tend to improve after a local thermal shock. The tendency is proved by testing a statistically reliable sample of unnotched specimens by the conventional method for determining the heat resistance. This tendency can be explained by “curing” of some of the defects (commensurable with the elements of the substructure) in densely sintered ceramics under the effect of thermal stresses. This was established due to the low scattering of the values of the mechanical properties measured in testing a sample of specimens with a special notch. It cannot be detected in tests of unnotched specimens within the same sample. A heat cycle of “850‡C-water” worsens the mechanical properties of notched and unnotched specimens due to the initiated microfracture.