Biaxial flexural strength of Turkom-Cera core compared to two other all-ceramic systems

• Main Authors: Abu-Hassan, M.I (Author), Al-Makramani, B.M.A (Author), Razak, A.A.A (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculdade De Odontologia De Bauru 2010
• Subjects: Ceramics; Dental materials; Strength
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus
• ISBN: 16787757 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.1590/S1678-77572010000600012

Advances in all-ceramic systems have established predictable means of providing metal-free aesthetic and biocompatible materials. These materials must have sufficient strength to be a practical treatment alternative for the fabrication of crowns and fixed partial dentures. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the biaxial fìexural strength of three core ceramic materials. Material and Methods: Three groups of 10 disc-shaped specimens (16 mm diameter × 1.2 mm thickness - in accordance with ISO-6872, 1995) were made from the following ceramic materials: Turkom-Cera Fused Alumina [(Turkom-Ceramic (M) Sdn Bhd, Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia)], In-Ceram (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) and Vitadur-N (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany), which were sintered according to the manufacturer's recommendations. The specimens were subjected to biaxial fìexural strength test in an universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The definitive fracture load was recorded for each specimen and the biaxial flexural strength was calculated from an equation in accordance with ISO-6872. Results: The mean biaxial fìexural strength values were: Turkom-Cera: 506.8±87.01 MPa, In-Ceram: 347.4±28.83 MPa and Vitadur-N: 128.7±12.72 MPa. The results were analyzed by the Levene's test and Dunnett's T3 post-hoc test (SPSS software V11.5.0 for Windows, SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) at a preset significance level of 5% because of unequal group variances (P<0.00l). There was statistically significant difference between the three core ceramics (P<0.05). Turkom- Cera showed the highest biaxial flexural strength, followed by In-Ceram and Vitadur-N. Conclusions: Turkom-Cera core had significantly higher flexural strength than In-Ceram and Vitadur-N ceramic core materials.