Clinical and radiographic performance of preformed zirconia crowns and stainless-steel crowns in permanent first molars: 18-month results of a prospective, randomized trial

Background The treatment of young permanent first molars with extensive carious tissue loss may often require restoration with preformed crowns. This study compared the clinical and radiographic performance of stainless-steel crowns (SSCs) and preformed zirconia crowns (ZCs).Methods Forty-eight molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH)- or caries-affected permanent molars in 20 healthy patients between 6-13-year-old were randomly divided into ZC and SSC groups (n = 24 teeth/group) in a split-mouth design. The oral hygiene levels of patients were assessed using Greene and Vermillion simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S). Plaque accumulation and gingival health were evaluated using the Silness&Loe plaque index (PI) and Loe&Silness gingival index (GI), respectively. Clinical retention, marginal extension level, marginal adaptation of crowns and wear of the antagonist teeth were assessed at baseline, 1, 6, 12 and 18 months. The radiological assessments for evaluating the marginal adaptation of crowns and periapical pathology of crowned teeth were performed at 6 and 12 months. The data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and two-way ANOVA.Results A total of forty teeth in 17 children were evaluated for 18 months. ZCs had significantly lower gingival and plaque index values than teeth restored with SSCs during all evaluation periods (p < 0.05). Neither crown type resulted in clinically-detectable wear on opposing dentition or periapical pathology. One ZC was lost at 13 months, while all SSCs survived in function clinically. The cumulative survival rates of ZCs and SSCs were 95.2% and 100% respectively.Conclusions Both ZCs and SSCs showed high clinical retention rates in young permanent molars. ZCs had lower plaque accumulation and better gingival health than SSCs, which were consistently associated with mild gingival inflammation.