Heidar O. Shahin, Samir I. Bakry, Amir Azer And Mona M. Abd El-Latif,

ABSTRACT
Objective: The Aim Of This Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Was To Evaluate 4-unit Posterior Full Contour Zirconia Fixed Partial Dentures (FPDs) Sintered In Microwave And Conventional Furnaces With Respect To Clinical Performance And Survival Of The FPDs.

Materials and Methods: Twenty Patients In Need Of One Posterior Four-unit FPD Replacing Mandibular Second Premolar And First Molar Were Included. Twenty FPDs Were Milled Using CAD/CAM System And Randomly Assigned Into One Of The Two Groups (n=10) According To The Sintering Technique (Group 1: Microwave Sintering And Group 2: Conventional Sintering). For The Clinical Evaluation At Baseline, 6 And 12 Months, USPHS Criteria Were Used.

Results: Twenty Patients Were Examined. At The 1-year Follow-up The Survival Rate Was 100% In Both Groups.

Conclusions: Monolithic Zirconia Can Be Used For The Construction Of Full Contour FPDs. Both Microwave And Conventional Sintering Of Zirconia FPDs Exhibited Good Clinical Outcomes Without Differences Between Groups. Microwave Assisted Furnace Can Be Used As A Valuable Alternative For Conventional Furnaces For The Sintering Of Monolithic Zirconia Restorations Without Hindering Zirconia Properties.