Are tooth and ceramic fractures different sides of the same coin? Report of two clinical cases.

Two clinical cases involving the fracture of a natural tooth and of a ceramic crown were presented and discussed based on fractography principles. In the first case, a patient reported intense pain in a sound third molar, where a longitudinal fracture was identified, and the tooth was extracted. In the second case, a posterior rehabilitation using a LS (lithium-silicate) ceramic crown was carried out and after one year, the patient returned with a fractured piece of the crown. Both were analyzed under microscopy, to identify the origins of fractures and their causes. The fractures were critically analyzed so that relevant information could be generated from the laboratory to clinic.