Varied simulation-based stress analyses on zirconia all-ceramic crowns

The development of high-strength ceramics and its use in posterior areas has been a field of constant investigation. The performance of all-ceramic molar crowns fabricated with new CAD/CAM techniques is a subject of interest. The studies available in literature focused on the analysis of all-ceramic restorations failures, investigating several parameters involved on the tooth structure. The goal of this study was to investigate the stress distributions of zirconia all ceramic crowns, under loads using varied stress distribution analyses. A static structural analysis was performed to calculate the stress distribution using the computer-aided engineering software. Equivalent stresses were recorded in the tooth structures and in the restoration for all these designs. Since ceramic materials exhibit brittle behavior, the first principal stress criterion was adopted to compare the stress values and distribution with those obtained for the first simulations. Under the same loading conditions, the stress distribution patterns for the zirconia all-ceramic crown using differential stress analyses exhibited similarities. Only the values are lower for the maximal principal stresses. The present study suggests that varied simulation methods are promising to assess the biomechanical behaviour of all-ceramic systems. Key-Words: zirconia all-ceramic crown, molar, simulation methods, stresses.