Pressed lithium disilicate successful in long-term esthetic restoration of tooth wear, finds research

Long-term clinical data are lacking on the comparative survival of adhesively luted lithium disilicate glass-ceramic complete and partial coverage restorations in patients with severe wear and the effect that different clinical variables have on their survival. The purpose of this study was to examine the 14-year survival of pressed e.max lithium disilicate glass-ceramic complete and partial coverage restorations in patients with severe wear and to evaluate associated clinical parameters. Patients demonstrating severe wear and requiring single unit defect-specific partial or complete coverage restorations were recruited in a clinical private practice and received lithium disilicate restorations. The effect of various clinical parameters was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves to account for attrition bias and other causes of failure.

The statistical significance of differences between parameters was determined by using the log rank test (α=.05). Results: A total of 53 participants (24 men and 29 women) requiring 662 lithium disilicate restorations were evaluated. The mean age of the participants at the time of restoration placement was 60 (range 25 to 85 years). Of 662 units, 551 were anterior and posterior complete and 111 were posterior partial coverage restorations. Six failures (bulk fracture or large chip) requiring replacement occurred with the average time to failure of 4.5 (range 2 to 8) years, yielding a crude estimate of annual failure of 0.1% (cumulative monitoring period of 4650 years, overall survival rate of 98.6%).