Plaque, gingival health and post-operative sensitivity in titanium inlays and onlays: a randomized controlled clinical trial.
OBJECTIVE
Few clinical data on the use of titanium for restorative appliances are available. The aim of this study was to clinically evaluate titanium restorations compared to gold alloy restorations with regard to plaque, gingival health and post-operative sensitivity.


METHODS
In 54 patients, 99 titanium restorations were placed. The control group comprised 56 patients with 96 high gold alloy restorations. The material was chosen by random. Each patient received one or two Class II restorations. Plaque Index (Silness and Löe, 0-3), Gingival Index (Löe and Silness, 0-3), and post-operative sensitivity (1-4, 1=none) were rated at 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months, post-operatively.


RESULTS
The mean plaque scores ranged from 0.89 to 0.99 in the titanium group, and from 0.88 to 1.04 in the gold group. The mean gingival scores ranged from 0.91 to 1.07 in the titanium group, and from 0.82 to 0.99 in the gold group. The mean plaque and gingival scores of the titanium and gold group did not differ significantly at any visit (P>0.05). To evaluate post-operative sensitivity, patients with one MOD restoration each were included, resulting in 46 titanium and 44 high gold restored teeth. Mean values of the post-operative sensitivity scores in the titanium group were significantly higher than in the gold group (P<0.05). The restoration material was found to be the dominating variable with regard to post-operative sensitivity, which was not influenced by age, sex and the application of calcium hydroxide liner.


CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that neither higher plaque scores nor adverse effects on gingival health are to be expected in titanium restorations.
Walter
M H
MH
Department of Prosthodontics, Medical Faculty, Technical University of Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany. m.walter@rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de
Wolf
B H
BH
Schmidt
A E
AE
Boening
K W
KW
Koch
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002126:Calcium Hydroxide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003736:Dental Cavity Lining; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000209:etiology*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D003785:Dental Pulp Capping; D003807:Dentin Sensitivity / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000209:etiology*; D006047:Gold Alloys / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007284:Inlays / Q000145:classification; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010512:Periodontal Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
D006047:Gold Alloys; D014025:Titanium; D002126:Calcium Hydroxide