Effects of gold and bonded ceramic inlays on the ability to perceive occlusal thickness

Any crown or inlay preparation will be accompanied with pulpal involvement and possible altered biomechanical and/or viscoelastic properties concerning the treated tooth. This study was aimed to assess this influence in terms of differences in interocclusal discrimination threshold value, before and after rehabilitation with gold inlays and by composite resin bonded ceramic inlays. Twenty patients were included and treated with one gold and three ceramic inlays each. For purposes of determining the discrimination threshold between the inlays and antagonizing teeth, plastic foils of different thicknesses were used. Each inlay position, as well as a pair of control teeth, were tested before and after treatment. Before rehabilitation an interocclusal and discrimination threshold of 24 microns at the level of 80% right answers were determined. Treatment with inlays, however, resulted in a significantly different and increased threshold for every tooth/inlays combination. No significant differences between the sessions were recorded for the control teeth. It could be concluded that, in the short term, an oral rehabilitation with inlays and in particular bonded inlays will influence mechanosensitive afferents.