Fit of zirconia fixed partial denture: a systematic review

The aim of this study is to review all the published literature investigating the accuracy of fit of zirconia fixed partial dentures (FPD). A comprehensive electronic search was performed through PubMed (MEDLINE) using Boolean operators to combine the following key words: 'zirconia,''margin,''FPD,''internal,''fit,''gap,''fitting surface,''bridge' and 'fixed prosthesis.' The search was limited to articles written in English, published up to January 2010. In addition, a manual search was also conducted through articles and reference lists retrieved from the electronic search and peer-reviewed journals. A total of 115 articles were retrieved and only 15 met the specified inclusion criteria for the review. Twelve of these articles were in vitro and three of them were in vivo. The selected articles had assessed marginal and/or internal fit of zirconia FPDs against the effect of various parameters that were computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and CAM systems, post-sintered and pre-sintered milling, framework configuration, span length, veneer application and ageing.

CAD/CAM, post-sintered milling, straight configuration and shorter span frameworks provided superior results than CAM, pre-sintered milling, curved configuration and longer span frameworks. Veneering zirconia frameworks caused deterioration in fit, while ageing of zirconia had no implications on the fit. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of the differences in the accuracy reported in this review.