Comparison of Crown Shape and Amount of Tooth Reduction for Primary Anterior Prefabricated Crowns

The purpose of this study was to obtain instructions for size selection of prefabricated crown and tooth reduction by 3-dimensional analysis of the size and shape of the maxillary primary central and lateral incisors and prefabricated crowns (celluloid strip, resin veneered stainless steel, and zirconia crowns). The maxillary primary central and lateral incisors of 300 Korean children was scanned with three types of prefabricated crown to create standard three-dimensional tooth models and prefabricated crowns. The shapes of the prefabricated crowns and natural teeth were compared according to four parameters (mesio-distal width, height, labio-palatal width, and labial surface curvature coefficient) and calculated the amount of tooth reduction required for each prefabricated crown. The size 2 resin veneered stainless steel crown, size 1 zirconia crown, and size 2 celluloid strip crown were most similar in shape to the primary central incisor. The size 3 rein veneered stainless steel crown, size 2 zirconia crown, and size 3 celluloid strip crown were most similar to the primary lateral incisor. The amount of tooth reduction was similar in both maxillary primary central and lateral incisors. The incisal reduction was greatest for the zirconia crown. At the proximal surface, the zirconia and celluloid strip crowns required a similar amount of tooth reduction, but more than the resin veneered stainless steel crown. The labial surface reduction was greatest for the zirconia crown. The degree of lingual surface reduction was not significant among the three prefabricated crowns. Among the assessment parameters, mesio-distal crown width was the most important for choosing a prefabricated crown closest to the actual size of the natural crown.