Load Fatigue of Compromised Teeth: A Comparison of 3 Luting Cements

Purpose: This study compared the number of cycles to failure of central incisors restored with full cast crowns and then cemented with 3 different luting cements. Materials and Methods: Fifteen human maxillary central incisors received cast post-and-core restorations. These were cemented with zinc phosphate. The teeth were then divided into 3 gruops of 5 samples each. Each tooth had a ferrule length of 1.0 mm and was prepared for a full crown. A waxing jig was used to standardize the load application point on all waxed crowns. Complete cast crowns were cemented to the compromised teeth using 3 different luting cements: a zinc phosphate cement (control group), a resin-modified glass-ionomer cement, and a resin cement with a dentin bonding agent. A fatigue load of 1.5 kg was applied at a rate of 72 cycles per minute until failure of the cement layer occurred between teh crown and the tooth (preliminary failure). The independent variable was the number of load cycles required to create preliminary failure. An electrical resistance strain gauge was used to provide evidence of preliminary failure. An electrical resistance strain gauge was used to provide evidence of preliminary failure. Results and Conclusion: The resin cement samples had a significantly higher number of load cycles to preliminary failure than both the zinc phosphate and the resin-modified glass ionomer (P - 0.05). There was no significant difference between the zinc phosphate and the resin-modified glass-ionomer cements.