Objective: To study the fracture resistance and failure modes of different type of ceramic crowns. Methods: Four groups of crown including zirconia-veneering porcelain crown (Group 1), whole zirconia crown (CAD/CAM, Group 2), cast ceramic crown (Group 3) and glass ceramic crown (CAD/CAM, chairside, Group 4) with the same thickness were manufactured, each group own 12 crowns. The fracture resistance test and failure modes analysis of the specimens were conducted, SPSS22.0 was used to analyze the difference among the groups. Results: The fracture strength of Group 2 is significantly higher than other three group (P<0.05), Statistical significance was found between group 3 and group 1, group 4. No Statistical significance was found between group 1 and group 4. The failure modes of the whole zirconia crown, the cast ceramic crown and the glass ceramic crown are complete crown fracture; 33% of the zirconia-veneering porcelain crown showed veneering layer fracture, the other 67% showed complete crown fracture. Conclusion: The fracture resistance of the whole zirconia crown are higher than the cast ceramic crown, the zirconia-veneering crown and the glass ceramic crown and the glass ceramic crown (CAD/CAM) is a very convenient prostheses. The failure modes are significantly influenced by the type of the crown.