An in Vitro Analysis to Evaluate Coronal Residual Dentine Thickness after Different Anterior Crown Preparations

Background: Knife edge, chamfer, and shoulder are the three distinct finishing lines utilized in crown preparations. Each finishing line has relative benefits and drawbacks. However, not much scientific data exists regarding which of these finishing lines will leave the most amount of residual dentine coronally on maxillary lateral incisors and mandibular incisors. Objective: To assess the coronal residual dentine thickness after different cervical finishing lines for anterior crown preparations. Materials and Methods: A prospective comparative study was conducted including mandibular incisors and maxillary laterals that were taken from subjects from 18 to 30 years old. Teeth in each of the three groups were randomly separated into three cervical margin preparation groups: knife edge, chamfer and shoulder. The teeth were then prepared for single crown coverage using these finishing lines. The teeth were sectioned halfway through the crown preparation, and a digital caliper was used to determine the residual dentine thickness at the buccal, lingual, mesial and distal areas. The Tukey test was used for mean comparison, and ANOVA analysis was used to evaluate the variation in mean residual dentine thickness. Results: For upper lateral incisors, knife edge finishing lines showed the highest amount of remaining dentine thickness—1.5 mm. lingually, while the upper lateral incisors mesially had the least amount of 0.53 mm for shoulder finishing lines. The least residual dentine (0.53 mm for the shoulder and 0.70 mm for the chamfer finishing line) was found in the interproximal portions of all the teeth that were selected. Lower central incisors had the least amount of residual dentine 0.61 mm for shoulder preparations mesially whiles lower lateral incisors had the least amount of residual dentine for shoulder preparations 0.58 mm distally. There was a statistically significant difference of 0.001 across the groups. Conclusion: The thickness of residual dentine seen coronally after the three finishing line preparations showed a statistically significant difference and the knife edge finishing line provided enough coronal protection within the scope of this study.