Activities

FRACTODENT Research Fund | Best-Fracto-Photo-Award | Fracto Course | Fracto Literature 

FRACTODENT Research Fund 2025

The Fracto Forum International e.V. (FFI) introduced the FRACTODENT Research Fund in 2024.

This research fund aims to promote fractographic research into fracture mechanics of brittle dental materials including experimental and clinical research studies. It is further aimed to foster collaborations between research centers with expertise in dental fractography or individually trained dental fractographers.

The FRACTODENT research fund aims to fund one research person who is intending to perform an outlined fractographic study in a research laboratory of a different institution. The applicant must have either participated on one of the Fracto courses or connect his/her research to the upcoming Fracto course. The applicant should submit a two-page project description, a full CV, as well as one and letter of intention from the home supervisor and one letter of acceptance from the hosting institution to info@fractography.org, The deadline for submission is July 31, 2025.

The hosting research institution must have expertise in dental fractography (former Fracto Course participation and continuing activity in the field of dental fractography or fracture mechanics or similar prove of expertise). The hosting supervisor need to be FFI members in good standing.

FRACTODENT covers travel costs between the applicant and the hosting institution, limited to a maximum of 5.000 Euro. This fund intends to cover the research stay of approximately two weeks in the hosting institution. Valid costs are flight ticket (economy fare), accommodation and a per diem for the applicant (according to BayRKG). No costs will be covered for the hosting institution. Combination with other types of funding are not applicable.

The submissions will be reviewed by an independent panel. The project needs to be concluded not later than December 31, 2026.

FFI expects the hosting institution of offer a free research stay for the applicant and free use of scientific instruments. The scientific outcome of this research collaboration needs to be acknowledged in upcoming publications.

The 2024 FRACTODENT Award winner is Dr. Rafaela Oliveira Pilecco, Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Conservative Dentistry at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. In July 2025, she will conduct a fractographic study in the Research Laboratory for Dental Biomaterials at the Dental Clinic, University of Erlangen, Germany. She is supervised by Prof. Gabriel Kalil Rocha Pereira from her home department as well as by Prof. Ulrich Lohbauer from the hosting institution.

Best-Fracto-Photo Award 2025

The Fracto Forum International e.V. (FFI) announces the Best Fracto-Photo Award Competition 2025.

This award is related to fracture mechanics of brittle materials and photo submissions are welcome from any field of clinical or experimental research in dental fractography.

FFI members in good standing are welcome to submit their photos by July 31, 2025. Photos must not be published, artificially modified or KI optimized. Only one submission per person is allowed. Applicant should submit to info@fractography.org, including a short CV and brief outline of the photo history or caption of the subject. The deadline for submission is July 31, 2024.

The submissions will be reviewed by an independent award panel. The Best Fracto-Photo of the year will be published on the FFI Website. A certificate and a financial Award of 500 Euro is awarded to the applicant by the time of the FFI next business meeting.

No applications were received in 2024.

Fracto Course

Fracto Course 2026

The FFI e.V. is planning for the next Fracto Course in the year 2026. Not yet defined, but most probably this course will be held in summer in Erlangen, Germany. In case of interest, please send an e-mail to info@fractography.org and we will keep you updated!

Fracto course 2024

In October 2024, the 11th course in Clinical Fractography was successfully held in Cherasco, Italy. With 16 international participants from academia and industry, 2 external lecturers as well as 3 corse instructors, this event was fully booked. The Piemont region provided a wonderful setting for the course.

The venue was the Monastero di Cherasco and is located 50 km south of Torino, in the heart of the Piemont winegrowing region.

The course provided a balanced mix between basic knowledge into fractography, fracture mechanics, hands-on with stereo microscopes, and interactive case presentations in clincial fractography. Aiming to add fresh perspectives into advanced fractography, we invited world wide leaders in fractography to share and discuss their knowledge.

The 2024 course program can be found here:

Program Fractocourse 2024

The program is spread over 3 days. The registration fee for the 2024 Fracto Course was 1000,00 € and included the FFI membership fee for 2024, comprehensive course material (book and script) as well as food & beverages during the day and a social dinner on one of the course days.

Registration Procedure (For future courses):

Step 1.

Send an E-Mail to: info@fractography.org. The participants will be taken on a first come first serve basis. We will respond with acceptance as soon as possible!

Step 2.

After acceptance, please submit the Registration fee (1000,00 €uro).

(please notice our below cancellation and refund policy).

Via PayPal:

Your full name:

or by bank transfer:

Fracto Forum International
IBAN: DE53 7635 0000 0060 0556 24
BIC: BYLADEM1ERH

Fracto Course Cancellation and Refund Policy

The Fracto Forum International e.V. (FFI) reserves the right to cancel, modify or delay the Fracto Course. In case of cancellation, all paid registration fees are refunded to the same source (person & method of payment) where it came from. In case of moving dates of the Fracto Course, individual regulations will be found by FFI in favor of the registrant.
Individual cancellations by an already registered person must be made in writing not later than six weeks prior to the Fracto Course (cancellation deadline). All paid registration fees are refunded to the same source (person & method of payment) where it came from. An administrative fee of 50 Euro applies upon cancellation.
In case of individual cancellations after the deadline, no refunds will be paid.
Further, no refunds will be paid upon late arrival, early departure or non-attendance of a registered person. The FFI is not responsible for any costs or losses associated with travel arrangements connected to the Fracto Course. Please make sure to adequately effect insurance of your travel.

Fracto Literature

Books on Fractography

• Quinn G. Fractography of Ceramics and Glasses, 3rd edition. NIST Spec. Publ. 960-16 3rd ed., Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Washington, USA, 2020.
• Mecholsky JJ, Powell SR. Fractography of Ceramic and Metal Failures: A Symposium. ASTM International, Baltimore, USA, 1984.
• Broek D. The Practical Use of Fracture Mechanics. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, NL, 1989 (ISBN 90-247-3707-9).
• Roulin-Moloney AC. Fractography and Failure Mechanisms of Polymers and Composites. Elsevier, London, UK, 1989 (ISBN 1-85166-296-0).
• Frechette VD. Failure Analysis of Brittle Materials. Advances in Ceramics Vol. 28, The American Ceramic Society, Westerville, USA, 1990 (ISBN 0-944904-30-0).
• Strauss BM, Putatunda SK. Quantitative Methods in Fractography, STP1085, ASTM International, Philadelphia, USA, 1990 (ISBN 0-8031-1387-0).
• Hull D. Fractography – Observing, Measuring, and Interpreting Fracture Surface Topography. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1999 (ISBN 0-521-64082-2).
• Morrell R. Fractography of Brittle Materials. National Physical Laboratory, USA, 1999.
• Woodtli J. Praktische Fraktografie. Forschnugsanstalt EMPA, Dübendorf, CH, 2003 (ISBN 3-905594-37-4).
• Greenhalgh E. Failure analysis and fractography of polymer composites. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2009 (ISBN 9781845692179).
• Varner JR, Wightman M. Fractography of Glasses and Ceramics VI. Ceramic Transactions, Volume 230, Wiley, USA, 2012 (ISBN 978-1-118-27373-9).
• Freiman SW, Mecholsky JJ. The Fracture of Brittle Materials: Testing and Analysis. The American Ceramic Society, Wiley, USA, 2012 (ISBN 978-0-470-15586-8).
• Liu, Y., & Shen, J. Z. Clinical Failures of Ceramic Dental Prostheses. In Advanced Ceramics for Dentistry (pp. 77–102). Elsevier, Amsterdam, NL, 2014 (ISBN 978-0-12-394619-5).
• Hayes MD, Edwards DB, Shah AR. Fractography in Failure Analysis of polymers. Elsevier, Amsterdam, NL, 2015 (ISBN: 9780323242721).
• Robinson P, Greenhalgh E, Pinho S. Failure mechanisms in polymer matrix composites – criteria, testing and industrial applications. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2016 (ISBN 9780081016534).
• Mattheck C. The face of failure in nature and engineering. Karlsruhe, Germany: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; 2004.
• Lohbauer U, Belli R. Dental ceramics - Fracture Mechanics and engineering Design. Springer Nature, Switzerland, 2022 (ISBN 978-3-030-94686-9).

Standards on Fractography

• EN 843-6:2009-12: Advanced technical ceramics – Mechanical properties of monolithic ceramics at room temperature - Part 6: Guidance for fractographic investigation
• ASTM C 1678-10 (2015): Standard Practice for Fractographic Analysis of Fracture Mirror Sizes in Ceramics and Glasses
• ASTM C 1322-15: Standard Practice for Fractography and Characterization of Fracture Origins in Advanced Ceramics.
• ASTM C 1256: Standard Practice for Interpreting Glass Fracture Surface Features.
• Morrell R. Measurement Good Practice Guide No. 15 - Fractography of Brittle Materials. Teddington, UK: National Physical Laboratory; 1999.
• Scherrer SS, Lohbauer U, Della Bona A, Vichi A, Tholey MJ, Kelly JR, van Noort R, Cesar PF. ADM guidance-Ceramics: guidance to the use of fractography in failure analysis of brittle materials. Dent Mater 2017;33:599-620.

Papers on Fractography

• Kelly, J. R., Campbell, S. D., & Bowen, H. K. Fracture-surface analysis of dental ceramics. J Prosthet Dent 1989;62(5), 536–541.
• Kelly R, Giordano R, Pober R, Cima MJ. Fracture surface analysis of dental ceramics: clinically failed restorations. Int J Prosthodont 1990;3:430-440.
• Thompson, J. Y., Anusavice, K. J., Naman, A., & Morris, H. E. Fracture Surface Characterization of Clinically Failed All-Ceramic Crowns. J Dent Res 1994;73(12), 1824–1832.
• Kelly, J. R., Tesk, J. A., & Sorensen, J. A. Failure of All-ceramic Fixed Partial Dentures in vitro and in vivo: Analysis and Modeling. J Dent Res 1995;74(6), 1253–1258.
• Quinn, J., Quinn, G., Kelly, J., & Scherrer, S. Fractographic analyses of three ceramic whole crown restoration failures. Dent Mater 2005;21(10), 920–929.
• Taskonak, B., Mecholsky, J. J., & Anusavice, K. J. Fracture Surface Analysis of Clinically Failed Fixed Partial Dentures. J Dent Res 2006;85(3), 277–281.
• Scherrer, S. S., Quinn, J. B., Quinn, G. D., & Kelly, J. R. Failure analysis of ceramic clinical cases using qualitative fractography. Int J Prosthodont 2006;19(2), 185–192.
• Scherrer SS, Quinn JB, Quinn GD, Wiskott HW. Fractographic ceramic failure analysis using the replica technique. Dent Mater 2007;23:1397-404.
• Quinn, J. B., Scherrer, S. S., & Quinn, G. D. The Increasing Role of Fractography in the Dental Community. Ceram Trans 2007;199, 251–270.
• Taskonak, B., Yan, J., Mecholsky, J. J., Sertgöz, A., & Koçak, A. (2008). Fractographic analyses of zirconia-based fixed partial dentures. Dent Mater 2008;24(8), 1077–1082.
• Scherrer SS, Quinn GD, Quinn JB. Fractographic failure analysis of a Procera AllCeram crown using stereo and scanning electron microscopy. Dent Mater 2008;24:1107-13.
• Swain MV. Unstable cracking (chipping) of veneering porcelain on all-ceramic dental crowns and fixed partial dentures. Acta Biomater 2009;5:1668-77.
• Scherrer, S. S., Quinn, J. B., & Quinn, G. D. Fractography of Dental Restorations. Key Eng Mater 2009;409, 72–80.
• Aboushelib, M. N., Feilzer, A. J., & Kleverlaan, C. J. Bridging the gap between clinical failure and laboratory fracture strength tests using a fractographic approach. Dent Mater, 2009;25(3), 383–391.
• Aboushelib, M. N., & Salameh, Z. Zirconia implant abutment fracture: clinical case reports and precautions for use. Int J Prosthond, 2009;22(6), 616–619.
• Bulpakdi, P., Taskonak, B., Yan, J., & Mecholsky, J. J. Failure analysis of clinically failed all-ceramic fixed partial dentures using fractal geometry. Dent Mater 2009;25(5), 634–640.
• Kelly, J. R., Rungruanganunt, P., Hunter, B., & Vailati, F. Development of a clinically validated bulk failure test for ceramic crowns. J Prosthet Dent 2010;104(4), 228–238.
• Lohbauer U, Amberger G, Quinn GD, Scherrer SS. Fractographic analysis of a dental zirconia framework: a case study on design issues. Journal Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2010;3:623-9.
• Quinn JB, Quinn GD. Material properties and fractography of an indirect dental resin composite. Dent Mater. 2010;26(6):589-99.
• Campos RE, Soares CJ, Quagliatto PS, Soares PV, de Oliveira OB Jr, Santos-Filho PC, Salazar-Marocho SM. In vitro study of fracture load and fracture pattern of ceramic crowns: a finite element and fractography analysis. J Prosthodont. 2011;20(6):447-55.
• Quinn GD, Hoffman K, Quinn JB. Strength and fracture origins of a feldspathic porcelain. Dent Mater. 2012;28(5):502-11.
• Bonfante EA, Suzuki M, Lubelski W, Thompson VP, de Carvalho RM, Witek L, Coelho PG. Abutment design for implant-supported indirect composite molar crowns: reliability and fractography. J Prosthodont. 2012;21(8):596-603.
• Quinn GD, Hoffman K, Scherrer S, Lohbauer U, Amberger G, Karl M, Kelly JR. Fractographic Analysis of Broken Ceramic Dental Restorations. In : Fractography of Glasses and Ceramics VI. Ceram Trans 230 (2012) 161-174.
• Wu, X., Nakagawa, M., & Teraoka, F. Failure morphology of all-ceramic prostheses. Dent Mater J 2012;31(3), 494–498.
• Øilo M. Kvam K, Tibballs JE, Gjerdet NR. Clinically relevant fracture testing of all ceramic crowns. Dent Mater 2013; 29: 815-23.
• Øilo M, Gjerdet NR. Fractographic analyses of all-ceramic crowns: A study of 27 clinically fractured crowns. Dent Mater 2013; 29: e78-e84.
• Osman RB, Ma S, Duncan W, De Silva RK, Siddiqi A, Swain MV. Fractured zirconia implants and related implant designs: scanning electron microscopy analysis. Clin Oral Implants Res. 2013;24(5):592-7.
• Esquivel-Upshaw, J. F., Mehler, A., Clark, A. E., Neal, D., & Anusavice, K. J. Fracture analysis of randomized implant-supported fixed dental prostheses. J Dent 2014;42(10), 1335–1342.
• Liu, Y., Liu, G., Wang, Y., Shen, J., & Feng, H. Failure Modes and Fracture Origins of Porcelain Veneers on Bilayer Dental Crowns. Int J Prosthodont 2014;27(2), 147–150.
• Belli R, Scherrer SS, Reich S, Petschelt A, Lohbauer U. In vivo shell-like fractures of veneered-ZrO2 fixed dental prostheses. Case Stud Eng Fail Anal 2014;2:91-9.
• Lohbauer U, Belli R, Arnetzl G, Scherrer S, Quinn GD. Fracture of a veneered-ZrO2 dental prosthesis from an inner thermal crack. Case Stud Eng Fail Anal 2014;2:100-6.
• Harrer W, Morrell R, Danzer R. Fractography of biaxial tested Si3N4-specimens. J Eur Ceram Soc. 2014;34(14):3283-9.
• Øilo M, Kvam K, Reisegg K, Gjerdet NR. The effects of margin curvature on load at fracture of ceramic crowns, Int J prosthodontic, In press Øilo M, Kvam K, Gjerdet NR. Simulation of clinical fractures for three different all-ceramic incisor crowns. Eur J Oral Sci 2014, 122: 245-50.
• Øilo M, Hardang AD, Ulsund AH. Gjerdet NR. Fractographic features of glass-ceramic and zirconia-based dental restorations fractured during clinical function. Eur J Oral Sci, 2014, 122; 238-44.
• Esquivel-Upshaw JF, Mehler A, Clark AE, Neal D, Anusavice KJ. Fracture analysis of randomized implant-supported fixed dental prostheses. J Dent. 2014;42(10):1335-42.
• Quinn GD, Giuseppetti AA, Hoffman KH. Chipping fracture resistance of dental CAD/CAM restorative materials: part I--procedures and results. Dent Mater. 2014;30(5):e99-e111.
• Du Q, Swain MV, Zhao K. Fractographic analysis of anterior bilayered ceramic crowns that failed by veneer chipping. Quintessence Int. 2014;45(5):369-76.
• Moráguez, O. D., Wiskott, H. W. A., & Scherrer, S. S. Three- to nine-year survival estimates and fracture mechanisms of zirconia- and alumina-based restorations using standardized criteria to distinguish the severity of ceramic fractures. Clin Oral Investig 2015;19(9), 2295–2307.
• Pang Z, Chughtai A, Sailer I, Zhang Y. A fractographic study of clinically retrieved zirconia-ceramic and metal-ceramic fixed dental prostheses. Dent Mater. 2015;31(10):1198-206.
• Costa AK, Kelly RD, Fleming GJ, Borges AL, Addison O. Laminated ceramics with elastic interfaces: a mechanical advantage? J Dent. 2015;43(3):335-41.
• Belli R, Petschelt A, Hofner B, Hajtó J, Scherrer SS, Lohbauer U. Fracture Rates and Lifetime Estimations of CAD/CAM All-ceramic Restorations. J Dent Res. 2016;95:67-73.
• Basílio Mde A, Delben JA, Cesar PF, Rizkalla AS, Santos Junior GC, Arioli Filho JN. Failure modes of Y-TZP abutments with external hex implant-abutment connection determined by fractographic analysis. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2016;60:187-94.
• Ramos CM, Cesar PF, Bonfante EA, Rubo JH, Wang L, Borges AF. Fractographic principles applied to Y-TZP mechanical behavior analysis. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2016;57:215-23.
• Øilo M, Quinn GD. Fracture origins in twenty-two dental alumina crowns. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2016;53:93-103.
• Belli R, Scherrer SS, Lohbauer U. Report on fractures of trilayered all-ceramic fixed dental prostheses. Case Stud Eng Fail Anal 2016;7:71-79.
• Lohbauer U, Belli R, Cune MS, Schepke U. Fractography of clinically fractured, implant-supported dental computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing crowns. SAGE Open Med Case Rep. 2017;22:5:2050313X17741015.
• Griggs JA. Using fractal geometry to examine failed implants and prostheses. Dent Mater 2018;34:1748-1755.
• Øilo, M., & Arola, D. Fractographic analyses of failed one-piece zirconia implant restorations. Dent Mater 2018;34(6), 922–931.
• Lohbauer U, Wendler M, Rapp D, Belli R. Fractographic analysis of lithium silicate crown failures during sintering. SAGE Open Med Case Rep. 2019;21:7:2050313X19838962.
• Garbelotto LGD, Fukushima KA, Özcan M, Cesar PF, Volpato CAM. Chipping of veneering ceramic on a lithium disilicate anterior single crown: Description of repair method and a fractographic failure analysis. J Esthet Restor Dent. 2019;31(4):299-303.
• Scherrer SS, Mekki M, Crottaz C, Gahlert M, Romelli E, Marger L, Durual S, Vittecoq E. Translational research on clinically failed zirconia implants. Dent Mater. 2019;35(2):368-388.
• Belli R, Volkl H, Csato S, Tremmel S, Wartzack S, Lohbauer U. Development of a hoop-strength test for model sphero-cylindrical dental ceramic crowns: FEA and fractography. J Eur Ceram Soc. 2020;40(14):4753-64.
• Esquivel-Upshaw, J. F., Mecholsky, J. J., Clark, A. E., Jenkins, R., Hsu, S. M., Neal, D., & Ren, F. Factors influencing the survival of implant-supported ceramic-ceramic prostheses: A randomized, controlled clinical trial. J Dent, 2020;103, 100017.
• Jodha KS, Salazar Marocho SM, Scherrer SS, Griggs JA. Fractal analysis at varying locations of clinically failed zirconia dental implants. Dent Mater. 2020;36(8):1052-1058.
• Romanini-Junior JC, Hirata R, Bonfante EA, Bordin D, Kumagai RY, Fardin VP, Coelho PG, Reis AF. Monolithic CAD/CAM laminate veneers: Reliability and failure modes. Dent Mater. 2020;36(6):724-732.
• Brandeburski SBN, Della Bona A. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of ceramic chipping. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2020;110:103928.
• Meirelles, P. D., da Rocha, L. S., Pecho, O. E., della Bona, A., & Benetti, P. Intraoral repair of a chipped porcelain‐zirconia restoration. J Esthet Rest Dent 2020;32(5), 444–450.
• Saratti CM, Rocca GT, Durual S, Lohbauer U, Ferracane JL, Scherrer SS. Fractography of clinical failures of indirect resin composite endocrown and overlay restorations. Dent Mater. 2021;37(6):e341-e359.
• Spintzyk S, Geis-Gerstorfer J, Bourauel C, Keilig L, Lohbauer U, Brune A, Greuling A, Arnold C, Rues S, Adjiski R, Sawada T, Lümkemann N, Stawarczyk B, Ilie N, Frankenberger R, Dudek MC, Strickstrock M, Begand S. Biaxial flexural strength of zirconia: A round robin test with 12 laboratories. Dent Mater. 2021;37(2):284-295.
• Liu C, Eser A, Albrecht T, Stournari V, Felder M, Heintze S, Broeckmann C. Strength characterization and lifetime prediction of dental ceramic materials. Dent Mater. 2021;37(1):94-105.
• Miura, S., Yamauchi, S., Kasahara, S., Katsuda, Y., Fujisawa, M., & Egusa, H. Clinical evaluation of monolithic zirconia crowns: a failure analysis of clinically obtained cases from a 3.5-year study. J Prosthodont Res 2021;65(2), 148–154.
• Passos Rocha, E., Bruniera Anchieta, R., Alexandre da Cunha Melo, R., Henrique dos Santos, P., Gonçalves Assunção, W., Isquierdo de Souza, F., & Paula Martini, A. Clinical outcomes of minimally invasive ceramic restorations executed by dentists with different levels of experience. Blind and prospective clinical study. J Prosthodont Res 2021;65(2), 191–197.
• Xinlian, B., & Yi, S. Fractographic analysis on fracture failure behavior of all-ceramic crowns. Chin J Tiss Eng Res 2021;25(28), 4504–4509.
• Zhang, F., Monzavi, M., Li, M., Čokić, S., Manesh, A., Nowzari, H., Vleugels, J., & van Meerbeek, B. Fracture analysis of one/two-piece clinically failed zirconia dental implants. Dental Materials, 2022;38(10), 1633–1647.
• Juica, D., Marcus, N., Grandon, F., Sanhueza, V., & Wendler, M. Premature failure of a screw-retained ceramic single crown: A clinical report and fractographic analysis. J Prosthet Dent 2022;127(1), 32–37.
• Skjold, A., Schriwer, C., Gjerdet, N. R., & Øilo, M. Fractographic analysis of 35 clinically fractured bi-layered and monolithic zirconia crowns. J Dent 2022;125, 104271.
• Carvalho, A., Saavedra, G., & Marinho, R. Are Tooth and Ceramic Fractures Different Sides of the Same Coin? A Report of Two Clinical Cases. International J Prosthodont, 2023;36(6), 777–780.
• Duran Ojeda, G., Gresnigt, M. M. M., Romero, V., Sanhueza, V., & Wendler, M. Clinical report and fractographic analysis of a fractured partial laminate veneer. J Prosthet Dent 2024;131(4), 543–547.