Influence of the fabrication method on the fracture behavior of all-ceramic prosthesis

Different methods are available to produce all-ceramic dental prosthesis. Each processing step may introduce flaws to the material, which compromises its properties and reliability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fabrication method on the fracture behavior of prosthetic crowns produced with an alumina-based glass-infiltrated zirconia-reinforced ceramic. Two groups of all-ceramic crowns were produced according to the fabrication method of the infrastructure (IS) (n=30): IZC - IS produced by CAD-CAM; IZS - IS produced by slip-casting. The IS were veneered with porcelain and cemented to fiber-reinforced composite dies with resin cement. Crowns were loaded in compression to failure using a universal testing machine, at 1 mm/min crosshead speed and 37 ºC distilled water. Fractography was performed using stereomicroscope and SEM. Data were statistically analyzed with Student’s t test (α=0.05) and Weibull analysis. There were no significant differences among the experimental groups for fracture load (p=0.481) and Weibull modulus. For both groups, the failure mode was catastrophic failure involving IS and porcelain. It was concluded that the fabrication methods evaluated resulted in all-ceramic crowns with similar fracture behavior and reliability.