The Influence of Porcelain Fused to Metal ( PFM) and Zirconia Crowns on Periodontal Health

The Influence of Porcelain Fused to Metal ( PFM) and Zirconia Crowns on Periodontal Health

Investigate the influence of the crown tye Porcelain fused to metal or Zirconia on periodontal health.

Porcelain fused to metal (PFM) has been used in dentistry for the last five decades.

Zirconia (zirconium oxide, ZrO2) is the white crystalline powder oxide of the naturally occurring metal zirconium. Research of the medical utilization of zirconia dates back to the late 1960s. However, its utilization in dentistry did not start until the 1990s, when zirconia began to be used as a form of endodontic posts and implant abutments. The current literature contains studies that investigated the influence of zirconia implants and abutments on periodontal tissue, but to the investigators' knowledge, no work has been yet published which compares the influences of crown types on hard and soft tissues.

This prospective study will be conducted in the Department of Periodontology and in the Department of Maxillofacial Rehabilitation at Rambam Health Care Campus.

inclusion criteria:

1. Patient age 18 - 85 years old
2. In need for one or more fixed partial prosthetic crown or bridge

exclusion criteria:

1. Smokers
2. Active periodontal disease
3. history of compromising systemic disease
4. Allergy to materials used in the study
5. current drug abuse
6. Pregnant or intend to become pregnant
7. severe salivary gland dysfunction
8. Severe medical complications ( organ transplants, cancer, immunocompromised, or undergoing long-term antibiotic or steroid therapy )