Prospective observation of CAD/CAM titanium ceramic single crowns: A three-year follow up

Statement of problem

Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) titanium ceramic restorations were developed with the potential for replacing expensive, high noble metal ceramic restorations. However, there is a lack of information about the clinical performance of CAD/CAM titanium ceramic single crowns.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate CAD/CAM titanium ceramic single crowns after 3 years in function.

Material and methods

A total of 41 crowns were fabricated for 21 patients. The titanium copings were CAD/CAM milled (Everest CAD/CAM system) with an even thickness of 0.5 mm, and low-fusing veneering porcelain (Vita Titanium Porcelain) was added incrementally. The crowns were cemented using zinc phosphate cement after confirming that there were no mechanical and biological complications. The patients were recalled at 12, 24, and 36 months after cementation to examine the presence of any complications and measure periodontal parameters such as probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP), and plaque index (PI). The success and survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Results

The success rate of CAD/CAM titanium ceramic crowns with regard to mechanical complications was 82.3% (95% confidence interval: 71.2% to 95.1%). The cumulative survival rate of the crowns was 94.9% (95% confidence interval: 88.3% to 100%) after 3 years. No biological complications were observed. At the end of the follow up, PD was 2.93 mm, percentile of surface with BOP was 29.2, and PI was 0.31.

Conclusions

The clinical performances of the CAD/CAM titanium ceramic crowns for 3 years were acceptable, with no biologic complications and a high cumulative survival rate. (J Prosthet Dent 2009;102:290-297)