Abstract

Suboptimal adaptation of fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) can lead to technical and biological complications. It is unclear if the computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technique improves adaptation of FDPs compared with FDPs made using the lost-wax and metal casting technique. Three-unit FDPs were manufactured by CAD/CAM based on digital impression of a typodont model. The FDPs were made from one of five materials: pre-sintered zirconium dioxide; hot isostatic pressed zirconium dioxide; lithium disilicate glass-ceramic; milled cobalt-chromium; and laser-sintered cobalt-chromium. The FDPs made using the lost-wax and metal casting technique were used as reference. The fit of the FDPs was analysed using the triple-scan method. The fit was evaluated for both single abutments and three-unit FDPs. The average cement space varied between
50 lm and 300 lm. Insignificant differences in internal fit were observed between the CAD/CAM-manufactured FDPs, and none of the FPDs had cement spaces that were statistically significantly different from those of the reference FDP. For all FDPs, the cement space at a marginal band 0.5–1.0 mm from the preparation marginwas less than 100 lm. The milled cobalt-chromium FDP had the closest fit. The cement space of FDPs produced using the CAD/CAM technique was similar to that of FDPs produced using the conventional lost-wax and metal casting technique.

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Reference
Internal fit of three-unit fixed dental prostheses produced by computeraided design/computer-aided manufacturing and the lost-wax metal casting technique assessed using the triple-scan protocol
Dahl BE, Dahl JE, Rønold HJ.
Eur J Oral Sci 2017; 1–8, DOI: 10.1111/eos.12394