The influence of different cement spaces on the marginal gap of lithium disilicate crowns constructed by two scanner and milling unit combinations.

Abstract

This study compared the marginal gaps of CAD/CAM lithium disilicate (LDS) crowns constructed using a contemporary and older scanner/milling unit combination at three different cement spaces. Twenty-four undergraduate students prepared a Columbia model lower left first molar for an LDS crown in a simulated environment. From each crown preparation, one LDS crown was constructed using an E4D scanner/E4D milling unit (E4DS/E4DM) and TRIOS 3 scanner/Sirona inLab MC X5 milling unit (TRIO/MCX5) at cement space settings of 50, 100 and 200 μm. Each LDS crown was positioned onto the original crown preparation, and then a stereomicroscope was used to make three vertical marginal gap measurements at four locations (mid-buccal, mid-lingual, mid-mesial and mid-distal). The mean marginal gap (MMG) was calculated for each crown and each individual tooth surface. The MMGs of CAD/CAM LDS crowns constructed by TRIO/MCX5 were 72.31 at 50, 63.73 at 100 μm and 46.23 μm at 200 μm, which were smaller than E4DS/E4DM at each cement space. Increasing the cement space decreased the MMG in both scanner/milling unit combinations. The smallest MMG was found using the newer scanner/milling unit at the 200 μm cement space. © 2024 Australian Dental Association.