title: The use of stainless steel crowns: a systematic literature review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose was to review the published literature on stainless steel crowns (SSCs) from 2002 to the present as an update to an earlier review published in 2002.
  
  
  METHODS
  Included were published papers on clinical studies, case series, and laboratory testing on SSCs (including esthetic SSCs and the Hall technique) in peer-reviewed journals. Study quality and strength of evidence presented were assessed for papers reporting clinical results for SSCs as a primary study outcome using a list of weighting criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-one papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria (24 papers on 22 clinical studies, three case reports, 21 reviews and surveys, and 13 laboratory testing reports on SSCs and esthetic preformed metal crowns for primary and permanent molar teeth). Ten clinical studies achieved weighting scores ranging from 68 percent to 26 percent, with the two highest scoring studies (68 percent and 63 percent) considered good quality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Within the confines of the studies reviewed, primary molar esthetic crowns and SSCs had superior clinical performance as restoratives for posterior primary teeth, and the Hall technique was shown to have validity. No clinical studies were available on zirconia crowns. Further well-designed prospective studies on primary molar esthetic crowns and the Hall technique are needed.
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas, USA. SSeale@bcd.tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: N Sue
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Seale
authors.affiliation: 3M ESPE, St. Paul, Minn., USA.
authors.forename: Ros
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Randall
mesh_terms: D003442:Crowns; D003722:Dental Alloys / Q000737:chemistry*; D001840:Dental Bonding / Q000379:methods; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D006801:Humans; D010512:Periodontal Index; D013193:Stainless Steel / Q000737:chemistry*; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003722:Dental Alloys; D013193:Stainless Steel