Fracture load of composite resin and feldspathic all-ceramic CAD/CAM crowns.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Various machinable materials are currently used with computer-aided design/computer-assisted manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technologies for the chairside fabrication of restorations. However, properties of these new machinable materials, such as fracture load, wear, marginal deterioration, and color stability, should be investigated in vitro under replicated clinical conditions prior to time-consuming clinical studies.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the effect of cyclic loading fatigue and different luting agents under wet conditions on the fracture load of CAD/CAM machined composite resin and all-ceramic crowns.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-six intact human maxillary premolars were prepared for composite resin and all-ceramic crowns with the following preparation criteria: 6-degree axial taper, 1.5-mm shoulder finish line placed 0.5 mm occlusal to the cemento-enamel junction, 1.5-mm axial reduction, 2-mm occlusal reduction, and 5-mm occluso-gingival height. Sixteen unprepared premolars served as controls. Forty-eight all-ceramic crowns (Vita Mark II) and 48 millable composite resin crowns (MZ100 Block) were fabricated using a CAD/CAM system (Cerec 3). Three luting agents-RelyX ARC (RX), GC Fuji CEM (FC), and zinc phosphate cement (ZP)-were used for cementation (n = 16). After 1-week storage in water, half of the specimens (n=8) in each subgroup were cyclically loaded and thermal cycled under wet conditions for 600,000 masticatory cycles and 3500 thermal cycles (58 degrees C/4 degrees C; dwell time, 60 seconds) in a masticatory simulator; the other half (n = 8) were fractured without cyclic loading. All specimens were loaded in a universal testing machine with a compressive load (N) applied along the long axis of the specimen at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min until fracture. Fracture loads (N) were recorded for each specimen. Three-way analysis of variance was used to detect the effects of the experimental factors (crown material, luting agent, and loading conditions) on the fracture load. The comparison with the unprepared natural teeth as controls was done by means of t tests (alpha=.05).

RESULTS: Analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant influence of the luting agent and the cyclic loading (P < .001), whereas the crown material had no significant influence. Cyclic loading fatigue significantly decreased the mean fracture load of test groups independent of the 3 luting agents used: MZ100/ZP, 827.1 to 552.5 N; MZ100/FC, 914.7 to 706.2 N; MZ100/RX, 955.9 to 724.4 N; Vita/ZP, 772.3 to 571.5 N; Vita/FC, 923.6 to 721.1 N; and Vita/RX, 929.1 to 752.7 N. However, there was no significant difference in the mean fracture load of control specimens before and after cyclic loading (1140.1 N and 1066.2 N, respectively). Adhesive luting agents RelyX ARC and GC Fuji CEM increased fracture load significantly compared to zinc phosphate cement.

CONCLUSIONS: Cyclic loading fatigue significantly reduced the fracture loads of composite resin and all-ceramic crowns, whereas adhesive cementation significantly increased the fracture loads.