A review of the strength properties of dental ceramics.

New ceramic materials for restorative dentistry have been developed and introduced in recent years. This article reviews advantages and disadvantages of dental ceramics, concentrating on strength properties. Included are factors affecting the strength of dental ceramic materials and the most common mechanisms for increasing the strength of dental ceramics. The properties of presently available materials such as dispersion-strengthened ceramics, cast ceramics, and foil-reinforced materials are discussed. Current research efforts to improve the fracture resistance of ceramic restorative materials are reviewed. A description of methods to evaluate the strength of ceramics is included, as a caution concerning the interpretation of strength data reported in the literature.