A Randomized Clinical Trial of Monolithic Single-Tooth Crowns: 1-Year Preliminary Results

To investigate the clinical results of single-tooth ceramic crowns in the posterior region produced from three different monolithic materials.

A total of 36 posterior single-tooth crowns were fabricated from lithium silicate glass-ceramic (LSGC; n = 12), lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (LDGC; n = 12), and polymer-infiltrated ceramic network (PICN; n = 12) in 27 patients. Restorations were evaluated for prosthetic and periodontal criteria at baseline (0) and after 6 and 12 months. Prosthetic evaluation was performed according to the modified United States Public Health Service (USPHS) criteria, and probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival bleeding time index (GBTI), and gingival (GI) and periodontal indices (PI) were evaluated in the periodontal assessment. Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical analyses (P = .05).

All restorations were evaluated according to survival and success rates. No dropouts occurred. The survival rate of all three materials was 100% after 1 year. However, in the PICN group, a statistically significant difference was found between baseline and 12 months for color match (from A to B) and surface texture (from A to C; P < .001).

Although long-term clinical follow-up periods are needed, all three ceramics showed clinically acceptable survival and success rates over 1 year. The ceramics evaluated in the present study could be preferred for single-tooth full-crown restorations in the posterior region.