CAD/CAM to fabricate ceramic implant abutments and crowns: A preliminary in vitro study

Abstract

Background: This study evaluated the feasibility of fabricating implant abutments and crowns from pre-sintered feldspathic porcelain blocks using the chair-side CAD/CAM, CEREC3D® system. Methods: Thirty-two implant analogues were divided into two groups. In the control group, prefabricated machined anatomical titanium (Ti) abutments were screw-retained to the analogues. In the test group, machined feldspathic porcelain abutments were cemented on prefabricated machined Ti links and screw-retained to the implant analogues. These feldspathic porcelain abutments were fabricated out of pre-sintered feldspathic porcelain blocks as duplicates of the abutments in the control group using the CAD/CAM, CEREC3D® system. Thirty-two feldspathic porcelain crowns, also fabricated out of pre-sintered ceramic blocks, were then cemented with resin cement on all the abutments in both groups. All samples were subsequently subjected to fracture strength testing under static load. An unpaired t-test was used to compare fracture load values between the two groups. Results: The test group using feldspathic porcelain abutments and crowns showed statistically significant higher mean fracture strength than the control group with the Ti abutments and feldspathic porcelain crowns. Conclusions: This preliminary study showed that the chair-side CAD/CAM technology can be utilized to fabricate customized ceramic abutments with their associated ceramic crowns using pre-sintered feldspathic porcelain blocks. © 2009 Australian Dental Association.