Evaluation of biogeneric design techniques with CEREC CAD/CAM system

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate occlusal contacts generated by 3 different biogeneric design modes (individual (BI), copy (BC), reference (BR)) of CEREC software and to assess the designs subjectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten pairs of maxillary and mandibular casts were obtained from full dentate individuals. Gypsum cast contacts were quantified with articulating paper and digital impressions were taken. Then, all ceramic crown preparation was performed on the left first molar teeth and digital impressions of prepared teeth were made. BI, BC, and BR crowns were designed. Occlusal images of designs including occlusal contacts were superimposed on the gypsum cast images and corresponding contacts were determined. Three designs were evaluated by the students. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that there was significant difference among the number of contacts of gypsum cast and digital models (P<.05). The comparison of the percentage of virtual contacts of three crown designs which were identical to the contacts of original gypsum cast revealed that BI and BR designs showed significantly higher percentages of identical contacts compared with BC design (P<.05). Subjective assessment revealed that students generally found BI designs and BR designs natural regarding naturalness of fissure morphology and cusp shape and cusp tip position. For general occlusal morphology, student groups generally found BI design "too strong" or "perfect", BC design "too weak", and BR design "perfect". CONCLUSION: On a prepared tooth, three different biogeneric design modes of a CAD/CAM software reveals different crown designs regarding occlusal contacts and morphology.

Biaxial flexural strength and phase transformation of Ce-TZP/Al2O3 and Y-TZP core materials after thermocycling and mechanical loading

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of thermocycling and mechanical loading on the biaxial flexural strength and the phase transformation of one Ce-TZP/Al2O3 and two Y-TZP core materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty disc-shaped specimens were obtained from each material. The specimens were randomly divided into three groups (control, thermocycled, and mechanically loaded). Thermocycling was subjected in distilled water for 10000 cycles. Mechanical loading was subjected with 200 N loads at a frequency of 2 Hz for 100000 times. The mean biaxial flexural strength and phase transformation of the specimens were tested. The Weibull modulus, characteristic strength, 10%, 5% and 1% probabilities of failure were calculated using the biaxial flexural strength data. RESULTS: The characteristic strengths of Ce-TZP/Al2O3 specimens were significantly higher in all groups compared with the other tested materials (P<.001). Statistical results of X-ray diffraction showed that thermocycling and mechanical loading did not affect the monoclinic phase content of the materials. According to Raman spectroscopy results, at the same point and the same material, mechanical loading significantly affected the phase fraction of all materials (P<.05). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that thermocycling and mechanical loading did not show negative effect on the mean biaxial strength of the tested materials.