Fracture Resistance of a Two-Piece Zirconia Implant System after Artificial Loading and/or Hydrothermal Aging-An In Vitro Investigation.

Unlabelled: The purpose of the present study was to assess the fracture resistance of a two-piece alumina-toughened zirconia implant system with a carbon-reinforced PEEK abutment screw.

Methods: Thirty-two implants with screw-retained zirconia abutments were divided into four groups of eight samples each. Group 0 (control group) was neither loaded nor aged in a chewing simulator; group H was hydrothermally aged; group L was loaded with 98 N; and group HL was subjected to both hydrothermal aging and loading in a chewing simulator.