[Clinical application of powder metallurgically produced crowns]

The clinical applicability of a newly developed powder metalurgic procedure (Degusint/Degussa) for the production of crowns and bridges is evaluated in a controlled clinical study. Until now 366 units ranging from occlusal inlays to four-unit ceramometallic bridges were incorporated. In a total of 15,000 marginal gap measurements, medians of 22 microns (Degusint G) and 26 microns (Degusint U) were found, with 95.4% or 94.0% respectively of the values ranging below 70 microns. The PFM-process increases the marginal gap from median 27 microns to 33 microns. With uniform pore distribution mean values from 90.3% to 92.4% of the theoretical density were reached using the available powder compositions. Compared with cast fixed prostheses no differences in intraoral behaviour could be noticed up to now.