Successful Restoration of Severely Mutilated Primary Incisors Using a Novel Method to Retain Zirconia Crowns – Two Year Results

Aim: This manuscript describes a simple reliable technique for restoring severely mutilated primary anterior teeth. A rigid glass ionomer post is created over which zirconia crowns can be fitted to achieve a longterm stable esthetic restoration for primary anterior teeth. Study design: Children aged 2-5 years with two up to six extensively decayed upper primary incisors were included. Fuji IX was condensed into an intracanal space created to a depth of 3mm, to provide a core which also extended 3mm supragingivally. Crown preparations were completed upon these cores. Zirconia crowns (Nusmile, Houston Texas USA) were fitted and cemented over the prepared cores. All patients were recalled at regular intervals. Results: Twenty-three healthy children with 86 restorations participated in the study. The overall survival of the restorations was 95.3% after 12 months and 80.2% after 24 months. According to Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the median survival time was not reached while the estimated mean survival time was 22.9 months. Conclusions: This newly described clinical technique is simple and reliable to use for restoration of extensively decayed primary incisors. Use of zirconia crowns retained using this technique offers superior esthetic, durable restorations with remarkable gingival response up to 24 months.

Primary teeth, zirconia, esthetics.

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