[Study on the bending strength of cast porcelain material of different linker sizes]

To investigate the relationship between size of different connectors and bending strength of cast porcelain materials.

The samples were divided into 5 groups according to the area of all-porcelain materials and simulated connector. In group A, simulated connector with cast porcelain material with a cross-section of 2 mm×3 mm was selected; In group B, simulated connector with cast porcelain material with a cross-section of 2 mm×4 mm was selected; In group C, simulated connector with cast porcelain material with a cross-section of 3 mm×3 mm was selected; In group D, simulated connector with cast porcelain material with a cross-section of 3 mm×4 mm was selected; In group E, simulated connector with zirconium oxide material with a cross-section of 2 mm×3 mm was selected. The fracture load was tested using classical three-point bending experiment, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0 software package.

For lithium disilicate cast porcelain, the fracture load increased with increasing cross section area, but both below the shear zirconia fracture load with a cross section of 2 mm×3 mm(P＜0.05).The increase in width increased the fracture load of porcelain samples compared to the length.

It is suitable to increase linker area when cast porcelain is applied to single-end bridge, which is especially achieved by increasing the width at the linker.