A Review of Polymer Crown Materials: Biomechanical and Material Science

Abstract

The conventional full coverage crown comes with complications such as material biomechanical complication, non- aesthetic appearance and the unpredictable longevity intraorally. Technology such as 3-dimensional printing accelerates the development of the polymer such as PEEK (Polyetheretherketone) in dentistry. Stress distribution analysis, specifically Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is one of the assessment methods to determine the suitability of the material used intraorally. The present paper focuses on the history and current usage of polymer in dentistry, potential role of polymer in full coverage crown fabrication and relevant investigations including FEA as investigation for in vitro assessment.

Keywords

• finite element analysis
• fixed prosthodontics
• full coverage crown
• polymers
• stress analysis