Tensile stress in glass-ceramic crowns: effect of flaws and cement voids

The objective of this study was to analyze the relative effect of loading site, occlusal thickness, ceramic flaws, elastic modulus of the cement, and voids in the cement layer on tensile stress that develops in molar glass-ceramic crowns under applied loads. Finite-element stress analyses were performed. Resin cement with a thickness of 0.05 mm was used. A central conical flaw (0.05 mm [diameter] x 0.05 mm) and a circular grooved flaw located under the cusp tips were included in all flaw cases. A void space confined within the occlusal region of the cement layer was also included in selected cases. For a ceramic thickness of 0.5 mm and a vertical distributed load applied at a distance of 1.3 mm from the vertical axis, the maximum tensile stresses were 100 MPa for a crown with flaws and a void, 87 MPa for a crown with no flaws and a void, and 75 MPa for a crown with flaws and no void. For a 1.5-mm-thick crown with flaws and a void, the tensile stress decreased to 22 MPa. When the load of 600 N was concentrated at the central point of the occlusal region, the peak tensile stress in a crown with flaws and no void was increased to 325 MPa. For the conditions analyzed in this study a large void in a flawed occlusal region of a thin molar crown (0.5 mm) is proposed as a mechanism of crown failure.