REINFORCED CERAMIC ABUTMENTS IN IMPLANT RETAINED RESTORATIONS IN THE ESTHETHIC ZONE

An increasing esthetic demand within developed populations conducted to the fabrication of metal free restorations and to a wide use of ceramic materials, due to its excellent characteristics of biocompatibility and aesthetics. a high esthetical demand lead to the fabrication of metal free restorations that allow better results in esthetically compromised areas. with the use of a cad/cam technique a customized abutment can be fabricated either in titanium or ceramics. with the incessant increase of commercial labels involved in this technological advance, a review is imposed on ceramic implant abutments, specifically on zirconia. highstrength ceramics like alumina and zirconia exhibit very high fracture toughness, with zirconia exhibiting the highest fracture toughness of ceramics suitable for constructing abutments. to date, the reported clinical performance of alumina and zirconia implant abutments has been very promising but relevant issues need further studies and evaluation.