Resistance to fracture of three all-ceramic systems

All-ceramic restorations have become an attractive alternative to porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, but their strength is still an important issue. The purpose of this study was to compare the in vitro fracture resistance of three all-ceramic systems: IPS Empress, In-Ceram, and Procera AllCeram. Thirty dies were replicated from a master die using high filler resin with a modulus of elasticity similar to dentin. Ten cores each of In-Ceram and Procera were fabricated to a thickness of 0.5 mm. The remaining porcelain was applied using a sculpting device to produce a crown with a final thickness of 1.0 mm axially and 2.5 mm occlusally. Ten IPS Empress crowns were mixed to the same dimensions and were pressed by the manufacturer. The internal surfaces of all the crowns were etched and silanated prior to cementation with a resin cement (Panavia 21). The cemented samples were loaded in an Instron machine until fracture. The mean fracture loads were: IPS Empress, 222.45 (+/- 49) kg; In-Ceram, 218.8 (+/- 36) kg; Procera AllCeram, 194.20 (+/- 37) kg. Tukey's test showed no statistically significant differences among the three all-ceramic systems at p < .05.