Load at Fracture of Turkom-Cera copings Using Different Luting Cements

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different luting agents on the fracture strength of Turkom-Cera (Turkom-Ceramic (M), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Fused Alumina copings. Methods: Standardized metal dies were duplicated from the prepared maxillary first premolar tooth using non-precious metal alloy (Wiron 99). Thirty Turkom-Cera copings of 0.6 mm thickness were fabricated. Three types of luting media were used; zinc phosphate cement Elite (GC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), glass-ionomer cement Fuji I (GC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) and dual-cured composite resin cement Panavia F (Kuraray Medical Inc., Okayama, Japan). Ten copings were cemented with each type. All copings were cemented to their respective dies according to manufacturer's instructions and received a static load of 5 kg for 10 minutes. After 24 hours of storage in distilled water at 37ºC, the copings were vertically loaded until fracture using Instron Universal Testing Machine at a crosshead speed of 1mm/minute. The mode of fracture was then determined. Results: Statistical analysis carried out using ANOVA and Post Hoc analysis using Scheffe's Test revealed significant difference in the load at fracture between the three groups (P<0.001). The mean fracture strength of Turkom-Cera copings cemented with Elite, Fuji I and Panavia F were 1537.4 N, 1294.4 N, and 2183.6 N, respectively. There was no evidence of association between mode of fracture and fracture strengths (P>0.05). Moreover, there was no evidence of association between mode of fracture and treatment group (P>0.05). Conclusions: Luting agents have an influence on the fracture resistance of Turkom-Cera copings. This study was supported by IPPP-P019/2006C; University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.