Ceramic Defects in Metal-Ceramic Fixed Dental Prostheses Made from Co-Cr and Au-Pt Alloys: A Retrospective Study.

<bold>Purpose: </bold>Ceramic defects in porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) restorations may depend on framework alloy type. This study assessed ceramic defects on cobalt-chromium- (Co-Cr-) and gold-platinum- (Au-Pt-) based PFM restorations.<bold>Materials and Methods: </bold>In this study, 147 Co-Cr-based and 168 Au-Pt-based PFM restorations inserted between 1998 and 2010 (139 patients) were examined for ceramic defects. Detected defects were assigned to three groups according to clinical defect relevance.<bold>Results: </bold>Ceramic defect rates (Co-Cr-based: 12.9%; Au-Pt-based: 7.2%) revealed no significant difference but a strong statistical trend (U test, P = .082). Most defects were of little clinical relevance.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Co-Cr PFM restorations may be at higher risk for ceramic defects compared to Au-Pt-based restorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]