Micro-CT Evaluation of Stainless Steel Crowns on Extracted Primary Molars

This study was conducted for the purpose of evaluating the stainless steel crowns on extracted primary molars and thus identifying frequent errors and defects. Visual assessment and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) image analysis were performed on 97 primary molars for evaluation of the state of marginal adaptation, cement loss, secondary caries, ledge formation, attritive perforation and marginal polishing defect. The results were as follows: In the examination of object teeth by evaluation criteria, cement loss was found most frequently (98%), followed by secondary caries (42.3%), marginal polishing defect (41.2%), ledge formation (29.9%) and attritive perforation (17.5%), in this order. The cement loss at the margins showed a significant relationship with marginal gap and secondary caries: the larger the marginal gap is, the more frequent is the cement loss (p and showed the highest value in the maxillary 2nd primary molars. The location of the crown margin above the cementoenamel junction was found most frequently and it was found that the higher the crown margin is located, the less the marginal gap becomes (p