Objectives: Literature reports large ranges in the fit of CAD-CAM crowns. While marginal fit has been often studied, both caries literature and one clinical misfit study question its clinical relevance. Occlusal misfit, however, is hypothesized to influence fracture resistance and has not been well studied. Polymerization shrinkage, another factor likely influencing stresses in bonded crowns, has also received little attention. This study simultaneously models cement shrinkage and loading of bonded and non-bonded crowns and begins to validate the predictions with load-to-failure testing. Methods: COMSOL Multiphysics® was used for stress analysis of 2-D axially symmetric models simulating stylized feldspathic crowns (1.5mm occlusal thickness) with resin-cement layers of 50µm, 100µm, 300µm and 500µm on dentin under 500N loading (2mm diam. piston). Polymerization shrinkage (cement) was simulated as thermal contraction. Ceramic-cement interface was either bonded or not; cement-dentin was bonded. Stress data were used for load-to-fracture predictions, using literature strengths accounting for milling and acid etching. Mark II (Vita) crowns were milled (Cerec InLab, Sirona), etched and cemented (Multilink Automix, Ivoclar) to dentin analogs (NEMA G10) (n=5 per group): G1 non-bonded, 50µm; G2 non-bonded, 500µm; G3 bonded, 50µm and G4 bonded, 500µm. Non-bonding was achieved with a thin layer of poly(dimethylsiloxane). Crowns were loaded (5 N/s) beneath a 2mm flat G10 piston with radial cracks detected accoustically. Results: FEA shrinkage stress magnitudes and distributions depended on bonded status and cement thickness. Loads to fracture (N) were G1=319.2±26.8; G2=239.8±51.8; G3=624.3±57; G4=312.5±58.1: G3 differed from all others (one-way ANOVA, 95% Tukey). FEA predictions are all within 99% population confidence intervals (N): G1=368.7; G2=188; G3=579.4; G4=258. Conclusion: For 50µm cement, bonding nearly doubled FEA and measured failure loads and this effect was lost by a 500µm cement thickness. Load-bearing ability decreased with increasing cement thickness. FEA and experimental data were comparable regarding structural implications of misfit.