A STUDY ON THE MARGINAL FIT OF COLLARLESS METAL CERAMIC FIXED PARTIAL DENTURES

Statement of problem. Collarless metal ceramic fixed partial dentures(FPDs) had an esthetic problem such as opaque reflection in cervical region. To overcome this, modified coping which removed its facial cervical metal could be used. The marginal quality could be worsen according to the amount of its facial metal reduction. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate marginal fits of collarless metal ceramic FPDs with retainers of modified copings. Material and method. Dentoform maxillary left central incisor and right lateral incisor were prepared for 3-unit collarless metal ceramic FPD and fixed in yellow stone. This model was duplicated to PBT resin dies via CAD/CAM and injection molding. Four different facial margin design groups were investigated. Group A was a coping with a thin facial metal collar, group B was a collarless coping with its facial metal to the shoulder, group C was a collarless coping with its facial metal 1 mm short of the shoulder, and group D was a collarless coping with its facial metal 2 mm short of the shoulder. Seven collarless metal ceramic FPDs per group were fabricated. They were cemented to PBT resin dies with resin cement. After removal of pontics, each retainers were separated and observed under Accura 2000 optical microscope. Then, retainers were embeded in orthodontic resin and cross sectioned faciopalatally. Internal marginal fits of midfacial porcelain margins were observed under FE-SEM. Result and conclusion. Within the limitations of this in vitro study. The following conclusions were drawn. 1. Mean marginal gaps of collarless FPDs were in the range. 2. In midfacial margin, marginal discrepancies were greater in group A than in the experimental groups(p<0.05). 3. In midpalatal margin, marginal gaps were greater in group C and D than in group A and B(p<0.05). 4. Marginal fits of porcelain margins were better than those of metal margins in collarless metal ceramic FPDs. 5. In both teeth, internal marginal gaps of group C and D were greater than those of group A and B(p