STRESS DISTRIBUTION OF MONOLITHIC AND VENEERED THREE-UNIT ZIRCONIA FDPS: A FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of restoration design on fracture resistance and stress distribu0on of veneered and monolithic three-unit zirconia fixed partial dentures (FDPs) using finite element analysis (FEA).

Materials And Methods: Identical epoxy resin replicas of mandibular second premolars and second molars (to serve as abutments for the three-unit bridges) were divided into four groups (n = 10): monolithic zirconia (MZ) restorations; conventional layering veneering technique (ZL); heat pressed-on technique (ZP); or CAD/CAM lithium-disilicate glass-ceramics (CAD-on). Specimens were subjected to compressive cyclic loading on the mesio-buccal cusp of the pontic (load range 50 to 600 N; aqueous environment; 500,000 cycles) in a universal testing machine.