Clinical Evaluation of Porcelain Fused to Electroformed Gold Coping Crowns: Preliminary Results after 30-43 Months

Abstract

Purpose: Porcelain-fused-to-gold copings prepared by the electroforming technique were introduced as an alternative to conventional metal/ceramic crowns. However, there are few clinical studies that have evaluated this technique. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the clinical performance of Auro Galvano Crowns (AGCs).Methods: One hundred and twenty-seven AGCs were used to treat patients at the Tsurumi University Dental Hospital from October 2002 to December 2003. All the crowns were evaluated using the modified California Dental Association (CDA) quality assessment system at baseline and at all follow-up appointments.Results: A total of 122, 119, and 72 crowns were examined at the 1-, 2-, and 3-year follow-ups, respectively. During the observation period, four crowns were removed because of partial fracture of the veneered porcelain in premolar and posterior teeth. No chips were detected during this observation period. All of the crowns examined were rated as satisfactory according to the modified CDA quality assessment system. During this period, the cumulative survival rate was 96.1%.Conclusion: Within the limitations of this clinical study, AGCs luted with adhesive resin cement functioned satisfactorily with a relatively low fracture rate compared to porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) and all-ceramic crowns. Since the observation period was short, long-term observation will be necessary in order to further evaluate these crowns.