Fracture strength of all-ceramic crowns

This paper compares the fracture strength of three types of all-ceramic crown shape systems (In ceram, OPC and IPS Empress) cemented with either a commercial resin cement, zinc phosphate or glass ionomer. Twenty test crown shapes with 8 mm diameter and 8.5 mm height were fabricated for each type of ceramic. Ten In ceram crown shapes were luted on the die using zinc phosphate, while ten OPCTM and IPS Empress were luted using resin cement specified for the particular system. Another ten specimens each, of In ceram, OPC and IPS Empress, were luted on the die using a glass ionomer. The crown shapes were fractured in a mechanical testing machine (Instron) using a steel ball, 4 mm diameter, that contacted the occlusal surface and the resulting data were statistically analysed using a Mann-Whitney test. The results showed that: (1) In ceram crown shapes luted with zinc phosphate were significantly stronger than IPS Empress crown shapes luted with resin cement (p < 0.05), but no difference was observed compared with OPC crown shapes luted with resin cement. No statistical difference was found between OPC and IPS Empress crown shapes. (2) When the three ceramics were luted with glass ionomer, the In ceram was significantly stronger than OPC (p < 0.05) and IPS Empress (p < 0.05). OPC was significantly stronger than IPS Empress (p < 0.05).