A clinical evaluation of all-ceramic bridges placed in UK general dental practices: first-year results.
OBJECTIVE
To report the results at year one of a three-year evaluation of the performance of fixed all-ceramic bridges, constructed with a yttrium tetragonal zirconia polycrystal substructure placed in adult patients in UK general dental practices and cemented using a self-adhesive resin-based cement.


METHODS
Ethical approval was obtained. Four UK general dental practitioners were asked to recruit patients complying with the trial criteria and protocol. After obtaining informed written consent, appropriate vitality and radiographic assessments were completed and the pre-operative status of the gingival tissues noted. The teeth were prepared and bridges constructed using the same technician and laboratory procedures. Each bridge was reviewed within three months of the anniversary of its placement by a calibrated examiner together with the clinician who had placed the restoration. The examiners evaluated the integrity of the restoration, its anatomic form, marginal adaptation, surface quality, sensitivity, the condition of the adjacent gingivae, and the presence or absence of secondary caries.


RESULTS
All the bridges (n = 38) examined at the first-year review were present, intact and performing well, though one small chip of the veneering porcelain was detected and in two cases an abutment tooth had been endodontically treated through an occlusal access cavity.
Crisp
R J
RJ
Primary Dental Care Research Unit, University of Birmingham School of Dentistry, St. Chad's Queensway, Birmingham. r.j.crisp@bham.ac.uk
Cowan
A J
AJ
Lamb
J
J
Thompson
O
O
Tulloch
N
N
Burke
F J T
FJ
D000328:Adult; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D003776:Dental Porcelain; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D019554:Dental Restoration Wear; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000379:methods; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D003779:Denture Design; D003830:Denture, Partial, Fixed; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007576:Jaw, Edentulous, Partially / Q000534:rehabilitation; D019279:Resin Cements; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom; D015019:Yttrium; D015040:Zirconium
D019279:Resin Cements; D003776:Dental Porcelain; D015019:Yttrium; D015040:Zirconium