Ceramic inlay restorations of posterior teeth

Abstract

Dentistry has benefited from tremendous advances in technology with the introduction of new techniques and materials, and patients are aware that esthetic approaches in dentistry can change one's appearance. Increasingly. tooth-colored restorative materials have been used for restoration of posterior teeth. Tooth-colored restoration for posterior teeth can be divided into three categories: 1) the direct techniques that can be made in a single appointment and are an intraoral procedure utilizing composites: 2) the semidirect techniques that require both an intraoral and an extraoral procedure and are luted chairside utilizing composites: and 3) the indirect techniques that require several appointments and the expertise of a dental technician working with either composites or ceramics. But, resin restoration has inherent drawbacks of microleakage. polymerization shrinkage, thermal cycling problems. and wear in stress-bearing areas. On the other hand, Ceramic restorations have many advantages over resin restorations. Ceramic inlays are reported to have less leakage than resin restoration and to fit better. although marginal fidelity depends on technique and is laboratory dependent. Adhesion of luting resin is more reliable and durable to etched ceramic material than to treated resin composite. In view of color matching, periodontal health. resistance to abrasion, ceramic restoration is superior to resin restorationl. Materials which have been used for the fabrication of ceramic restorations are various. Conventional powder slurry ceramics are also available. Castable ceramics are produced by centrifugal casting of heat-treated glass ceramics. and machinable ceramics are feldspathic porcelains or cast glass ceramics which are milled using a CAD/CAM apparatus to produce inlays (for example, Cered. They may also be copy milled using the Celay apparatus. Pressable ceramics are produced from feldspathic porcelain which is supplied in ingot form and heated and moulded under pressure to produce a restoration. Infiltrated ceramics are another class of material which are available for use as ceramic inlays. An example is In-Ceram®(Vident. California, USA) which consists of a porous aluminum oxide or spinell core infiltrated with glass and subsequently veneered with feldspathic porcelain. In the 1980s. the development of compatible refractory materials made fabrication easier. and the development of adhesive resin cements greatly improved clinical success rates. This case report presents esthetic ceramic inlays for posterior teeth.teeth.