This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kelly, J.R. Articles by Sorensen, J.A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kelly, J.R. Articles by Sorensen, J.A. Pubmed/NCBI databases Substance via MeSH Medline Plus Health Information Dentures Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Failure of All-ceramic Fixed Partial Dentures in vitro and in vivo: Analysis and Modeling

Dental & Medical Materials Group, Building 224-A143, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, Naval Dental Research Institute Detachment, Naval Dental School, Bethesda, MD

J.A. Tesk

Dental & Medical Materials Group, Building 224-A143, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899

J.A. Sorensen

Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR

Hertzian cone cracks visible at the loading site of 20 all-ceramic fixed partial dentures (FPDs), tested in vitro, led to the hypotheses that failure was due to the propagation of localized contact damage crack systems (Hertzian stress state) and that such damage was an unlikely clinical failure mode. Fractographic analysis of the 20 laboratory-failed and nine clinically-failed all-ceramic FPDs allowed for definitive testing of these hypotheses and a comparison between in vitro and in vivo failure behavior. In all cases, failure occurred in the FPD connectors (none from contact damage), with approximately 70 to 78% originating from the interface between the core and veneer ceramics. The coincidence between failure origins provides strong evidence that the in vitro test modeled aspects of structural behavior having clinical importance. The fractographic observations, coupled with the in vitro failure load data, furnished very specific boundary conditions which were applied to constrain mathematical models of FPD connector failure. Finite element analysis (FEA) of the laboratory FPDs found that maximum principal tensile stresses would occur at locations consistent with the fractographic observations only if: (1) there were appropriate elastic moduli differences between the ceramics; and (2) a small amount of abutment rotation was allowed. Weibull failure probability (Pf) calculations, incorporating FEA stress profiles, very closely replicated the laboratory failure distribution only when: (1) the veneer ceramic was much weaker than the core ceramic; and (2) the Weibull modulus of the core-veneer interface was much lower than that for the free veneer surface (i.e., the interface is of lower quality with regard to defects). This combined fractographic and mathematical analysis of FPD connectors suggests that the core-veneer interface is an important failure source and that the veneering ceramic overwhelmingly controls load-bearing capability. Observations from failed clinical restorations provided critical guidance in validating a laboratory test and focusing a mathematical failure model.

Key Words: dental ceramics • failure analysis • prosthodontics

REFERENCES

• Anusavice KJ, Hojjatie B. (1992). Tensile stress in glass-ceramic crowns: effect of flaws and cement voids. Int J Prosthodont 5:351-358.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Clause H. (1990). Vita In-Ceram, ein neues Verfahren zur Herstellung oxidekeramischer Gerüste fur Kronen und Briicken. Quintessenz Zahntech 16:35-46.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Craig RG (1979). Selected properties of dental composites. J Dent Res 58:1544-1550.
• DeHoff PH, Vontivillu SB, Wang Z., Anusavice KJ (1994). Stress relaxation behavior of dental porcelains at high temperatures. Dent Mater 10:178-184.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Harvey CK, Kelly JR (1995). Contact damage as a failure mode during in vitro testing. J Prosthodont (in press).
• Jayatilaka ADeS, Trustrum K (1977). Statistical approach to brittle fracture. J Mater Sci 12:1426-1430.[CrossRef]
• Kase HR, Tesk JA, Case ED ( 1985). Elastic constants of two dental porcelains. J Mater Sci 20:524-531.
• Kelly JR (1989). Clinical fracture behavior and colloidal processing of glass-matrix dental ceramics (dissertation, DMedSc). Boston, MA: Harvard University.
• Kelly JR, Campbell SD, Bowen HK (1989). Fracture-surface analysis of dental ceramics. J Prosthet Dent 62:536-541. Kelly JR, Giordano R., Pober R., Cima MJ (1990). Fracture-surface analysis of dental ceramics: clinically-failed restorations. Int J Prosthodont 3:430-440.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Lawn B. ( 1993). Fracture of brittle solids. 2nd ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, p. 254.
• Mann NR, Schafer RE, Singpurwalla ND (1974). Methods for
• statistical analysis of reliability and life data. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 142-145.
• Marquis PM (1988). Optimizing the strength of all-ceramic jacket crowns. In: Perspectives in dental ceramics. Preston J, editor. Chicago, IL: Quintessence Publishing Co., pp. 15-27. Nemeth NN, Powers LM, Janosik LA, Gyekenyes JP (1993). Designing ceramic components for durability. Ceram Bull 72(12): 59-69.
• Rice R. ( 1988). Perspective on fractography. In: Frechette VD, Varner JR, editors. Fractography of glasses and ceramics. Advances in Ceramics. Vol. 22. Westerville, OH: American Ceramics Society, pp. 3-56.
• Rizkalla AS, Jones DW, Sutow EJ, Hall GC ( 1994). Mechanical properties of commercial high strength ceramic core materials (abstract). J Dent Res 73(Spec Iss):197.
• Roark RJ (1989). Roark's formulas for stress and strain. 6th ed. Young WC, editor. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
• Seghi RR, Sorensen JA, Engelman MJ, Roumanas E., Torres TJ (1990). Flexural strength of new ceramic materials (abstract). J Dent Res 69(Spec Iss):299.
• Sorensen JA, Kang S-K., Roumanas E., Avera SP (1991). Effect of preparation design on flexural strength of all-ceramic bridges (abstract). J Dent Res 70(Spec Iss):471.
• Suresh S. (1991). Fatigue of materials. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 403-496.
• Thompson JY, Anusavice KJ, Morris H. (1994). Fracture surface characterization of clinically failed all-ceramic crowns. J Dent Res 73:1824-1832.
• Trustrum K., Jayatilaka ADES (1983). Applicability of Weibull analysis for brittle materials. J Mater Sci 18:2765-2770. Weibull W. (1939). A statistical theory of the strength of materials. Swed Inst Eng Res Proc 151:1-45.
• Weibull W. (1951). A statistical distribution of wide applicability. J Appl Mechan 18:293-297.

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 74, No. 6, 1253-1258 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345950740060301


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Giordano Materials for chairside CAD/CAM-produced restorations. J Am Dent Assoc, September 1, 2006; 137(suppl_1): 14S - 21S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. F.J. Stappert, W. Att, T. Gerds, and J. R. Strub Fracture resistance of different partial-coverage ceramic molar restorations: An in vitro investigation J Am Dent Assoc, April 1, 2006; 137(4): 514 - 522. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H.H.K. Xu Dental Composite Resins Containing Silica-fused Ceramic Single-crystalline Whiskers with Various Filler Levels Journal of Dental Research, July 1, 1999; 78(7): 1304 - 1311. [Abstract] [PDF]

				I.M. Peterson, A. Pajares, B.R. Lawn, V.P. Thompson, and E.D. Rekow Mechanical Characterization of Dental Ceramics by Hertzian Contacts Journal of Dental Research, April 1, 1998; 77(4): 589 - 602. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T.W.P. Korioth and A. Versluis Modeling the Mechanical Behavior of the Jaws and Their Related Structures By Finite Element (Fe) Analysis Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, January 1, 1997; 8(1): 90 - 104. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kelly, J.R. Articles by Sorensen, J.A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kelly, J.R. Articles by Sorensen, J.A. Pubmed/NCBI databases Substance via MeSH Medline Plus Health Information Dentures Social Bookmarking                         What's this?