Influence of different convergence angles of abutment teeth and cement spaces on internal adaptation of anterior CAD-CAM fixed dental prostheses

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different convergence angles of abutment teeth and different cement spaces on internal adaptation of anterior fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) fabricated with a computer-aided design-computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) system.

Methods: Composite resin FDPs for 99 standardized maxillary central incisors were fabricated according to nine parameters: three total convergence angles (4 [DG4], 12 [DG12], and 20 degrees [DG20]) and three cement space settings (10 [CS10], 50 [CS50], and 90 µm [CS90]). Internal space values were measured with a cement space replica technique. The Kruskal-Wallis and Steel-Dwass tests were used to evaluate differences in the total convergence angles and luting agent spaces, respectively (α = 0.05).

Results: For all three cement spaces tested, the median marginal gap values between abutment teeth and FDPs decreased significantly as the total convergence angle increased (P < 0.05). For the CS10 and CS50 groups, the internal space values at the axial area increased significantly as the total convergence angles increased (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Total convergence angles of the abutment teeth and cement spaces affected the marginal and internal adaptation of anterior FDPs fabricated with a CAD-CAM system.