Fracture Resistance of Implant Supported Three Units Fixed Partial Dentures Fabricated from Zirconia and PEEK “In-vitro study”

Hafez, Mostafa Hassan; Morsy, Tarek Salah; Younis, Jihan Farouk

doi:10.21608/jfcr.2023.167200.1038

Fracture Resistance of Implant Supported Three Units Fixed Partial Dentures Fabricated from Zirconia and PEEK “In-vitro study”

Document Type : Original research articles

Authors

¹ post graduate student, Misr International University, Cairo, Egypt

² Professor of Fixed Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

³ Head of Fixed prosthodontic department- Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine-Misr International University- Cairo,Egypt.

10.21608/jfcr.2023.167200.1038

Abstract

Background: Selection of prosthetic material is a critical factor affecting implant supported restorations long term success. It influences the transmission of stresses during function that transferred to each prosthetic component. PEEK -poly ether ether ketone-is a quite new polymeric material used for dental applications, it has been introduced for its promising shock absorbing and stress distribution qualities. However, there are limited data available in literature concerning fracture strength of PEEK restorations as implant superstructure. Aim of study: To evaluate fracture resistance of three units implant supported fixed partial dentures fabricated from PEEK and monolithic zirconia. Materials and methods: An in-vitro model was fabricated while two implants were embedded in an epoxy resin block simulating a case of missing mandibular first premolar and first molar. A total of 14 Monolithic zirconia and PEEK three unit fixed partial dentures were CAD/CAM (computer aided designing/computer aided manufacturing) fabricated and divided into two equal groups (n=7). Load till fracture was applied with a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min using a universal testing machine and fracture resistance was recorded in Newtons(N). Mode of failure was assessed using digital microscope. Results. The mean fracture resistance for zirconia was 979N while PEEK was 920N. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests showed that there was no statistically significant difference between both groups. Conclusion: PEEK superstructures are considered a new alternative that can rely on regarding its load bearing capacity and fracture strength. PEEK shock absorbing makes it such an innovative approach can substitute other commonly used materials.

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