Keynote Address: Models for Prediction of Metal-Ceramic and Ceramic-Ceramic FDP Reliability and Clinical Performance

Because of the high cost of treating patients with fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) and the potential loss in income of dental professionals when prosthesis replacements are required because of failures, optimum survival of metal-ceramic and ceramic-ceramic restorations must be ensured by means of predictive models and tests of simulated performance. This presentation will focus on the benefits and limitations of a broad range of test methods that have been proposed for analyzing the adhesion of core-veneer systems, thermal compatibility, simulated stress distributions as a function of design and loading conditions, fatigue tests, material and prosthesis reliability analyses, and “torture tests” that mimic extreme conditions that may occur intraorally. The rationale for using combinations of tests compared with single test methods will be presented. These methods include thermal cycling, hydrolytic degradation, thermal shock, bond characterization, load-to-failure tests of FDPs, reliability assessment, and CARES/Life predictions of the time-dependent probability of fracture.