Purpose: To investigate the bending moment of implants restored with a directly screwed single-unit fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) compared to implants restored with an FDP polymerized to a titanium base before and after thermomechanical aging. Materials and Methods: A total of 240 implants (120 with and 120 without a titanium base) were restored with FDPs manufactured from conventionally sintered 3Y-TZP, 5Y-TZP, 4Y-TZP, and CoCrMo, as well as high-speed sintered 4Y-TZP. Half the specimens per subgroup were aged using chewing simulation combined with thermocycling (1,200,000 cycles at 50 N; 6,000 cycles at 5° to 55°). Initial and aged fracture load were measured. The bending moment was calculated and subjected to statistical analysis (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Scheffé, t, and chi-square tests; P < .05). Failure types were analyzed. Results: Implants without a titanium base showed higher bending moments for all initially tested zirconia groups compared to implants with a titanium base. The highest initial values were observed for 4Y-TZP FDPs regardless of implant type. High-speed sintered FDPs demonstrated higher initial bending moments compared to conventionally sintered FDPs. Artificial aging led to a decrease of the bending moment in most subgroups. After aging, no differences were found within the restoration materials, sintering protocols, or implant types. Implant deformation occurred mainly with directly screwed FDPs, whereas FDP mobility was predominantly observed among implants with a titanium base. FDP fractures were mainly observed for 5Y-TZP. Conclusions: Both implant types exhibited similar values after aging. Thus, implants without a titanium base seem to show equally sufficient stability for clinical applications with all tested materials.
