Assessment of the internal fit and marginal integrity of interim crowns made by different manufacturing methods

The adaptation of interim crowns made by subtractive and additive manufacturing has not been well investigated.

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the internal fit and marginal discrepancy of interim crowns made by different manufacturing methods.

A dentoform mandibular left first molar was prepared for a ceramic crown and scanned for the fabrication of 48 stereolithical resin dies and interim crowns. Group CAM included 16 ZCAD interim crowns made by computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) technology; group 3DP, 16 NextDent MFH interim crowns made by digital light processing technology; and group APP, 16 Jet interim crowns manually made by using autopolymerizing acrylic resin and used as controls. The silicone replica technique was used to determine the internal discrepancy volume before definitive cementation. All crowns were cemented with Temp-Bond NE under a 50-N load and bench set for 10 minutes before microcomputed tomographic (μCT) scan assessment. The volume of cement space was measured by using the μCT scan 3-dimensional (3D) images, and gap distance at assigned locations was recorded by using the μCT scan 2-dimensional (2D) images. The marginal discrepancy was measured by the polyvinyl siloxane (PVS) impression technique and using a stereomicroscope. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and the Tukey honestly significant difference tests (α=.05). The association between different measuring techniques was analyzed by the Pearson correlation test.

The gap distance between interim crowns and dies from all 3 groups measured by using the μCT scan 2D images ranged from 0.13 mm to 0.55 mm, with the highest value found at the central occlusal location in group APP. The total average gap distance values recorded for group APP were significantly higher than those for group CAM and group 3DP (P<.05). No significant differences were found in internal discrepancy and cement space volume between group CAM and group 3DP (P>.05). The Pearson correlation test showed a moderate correlation (r=0.69) between the silicone replica technique and the μCT scan technique in determining cement space volume. When the PVS impression technique was used to measure the marginal discrepancy, the mean values obtained from group APP were statistically significantly higher than those from group CAM and group 3DP (P<.05). No statistically significant difference in marginal discrepancy was found between group CAM and group 3DP (P=.70).

Digitally fabricated interim crowns had better internal fit and smaller marginal discrepancy than manually constructed interim crowns. The silicone replica technique and μCT scan technique measurements had a moderate correlation in assessing the adaptation of cemented interim crowns.