Comparison between direct chairside and digitally fabricated temporary crowns.

The mechanical properties of temporary crowns are considered to be crucial in order to achieve successful definite restorations. This study compared marginal fit, internal fit, fracture strength and mode of fracture of CAD/CAM temporary crowns to direct chairside counterparts. An upper left first premolar Frasaco tooth was prepared for all-ceramic crown. The materials used for comparison were VITA CAD-Temp, ArtBlocTemp, PMMA DISK and Acrytemp (control group). The crowns were divided into four groups (n=10). Each crown was investigated for the above parameters. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v.20. The average marginal gap, internal gap and fracture strength showed statistically significant difference between groups (p<0.01). The fracture mode showed statistically non-significant difference (p>0.05) among experimental groups. The CAD/CAM temporary crowns demonstrated superior mechanical properties compared to direct handmade counterparts.