Prospects for Manufacturing Frames of Metal Ceramic Structures of Dental Prostheses by the Method of Selective Laser Sintering

Abstract

The article presents the results of evaluating the prototyping of metal-ceramic structures made by casting and selective laser sintering. To achieve this goal, 27 patients with fabricated metal-ceramic crowns and bridgeworks were examined. Two study groups were created. The first group included 14 patients for whom dental prosthesis frameworks were made by casting. The second group consisted of 13 people, for whom the frames of dentures were made by the method of selective laser sintering. The analysis of clinical effectiveness was carried out according to the following criteria: 1- precision of the felling of prosthesis frame to solid tissues of abutment teeth; 2- the condition of the marginal periodontium; 3- the integrity of the ceramic cladding. The results of the study showed that the precision to solid tooth tissues of metal-ceramic dental prostheses made by laser selective sintering is higher than of frames made by casting. In accordance to the second criteria the best results were also shown by the participants of the second group. No chipping of the ceramic veneer from the metal-ceramic denture frameworks made by laser selective sintering was found. Thus, dentures which frameworks are made by the method of selective laser sintering are characterized by a higher objective assessment of their precision to the solid tissues of the abutment teeth. Lesions of the marginal periodontium both inflammatory and dystrophic were less in the participants of the second group. The frequency of defects in the coating of metal-ceramic dentures was significantly lower in the case of fabrication frameworks by laser selective sintering.