Leucite-reinforced glass ceramic inlays after six years: wear of luting composites.

Wear of luting composites is still an unsolved problem with adhesive inlays. However, only limited clinical research has been conducted regarding this phenomenon. This study evaluated the substance loss within the luting gap over a six-year period in vivo. In the course of a controlled prospective clinical study, 16 patients received 39 Class-II IPS Empress inlays. Variolink Low (Vivadent; n = 18) was used as conventional low-viscosity luting composite, the hybrid-type restorative resin composite Tetric (n = 21; Vivadent) was applied according to the ultrasonic insertion technique. The restorations were clinically assessed after 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 months and replicas were made. The contact-free occlusal areas of the replicas were scanned by use of a computer-controlled profilometer (Perthen S3P), the analysis of the data was computed using a newly developed software (Xpert for Windows 95) and statistically analyzed with non-parametric tests. After six months all restorations exhibited marginal ditching. The percentage of detectable luting gap abrasion increased between each recall appointment (32% after six months, 48% after 12 months, 46% after 24 months, 55% after 36 months, 59% after 48 months and 65% after 72 months). Except for the 48-months results, no significant difference between the materials used for luting was evident (p > 0.05). Between the width and the depth of the luting space a linear regression was computed. The quantitative evaluation clearly demonstrated that hopes of relevantly reduced wear of luting composites were not confirmed when using the higher filled luting material.