Aesthetic Crowns for Restoring Anterior Primary Incisors

Abstract

Background: Proper treatment of carious primary teeth is of particular importance in order to prevent oral infections. This is also because primary teeth play a very important role in proper mastication and in maintaining space in the arch for the permanent teeth. Pediatric aesthetic dental procedures are often done for reconstructive or cosmetic purposes. The Hall technique is a conservative alternative treatment for carious primary molars developed by Dr. Norna Hall in the 1980s.
Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of acrylic crown to restore carious maxillary primary incisor, following the Hall technique guide, with clinical follow-ups carried out after 3, 6 and 12 months.
Materials and Methods: Ten healthy children aged 2-4 years of both genders, with extensive carious maxillary incisors were involved in this study. Acrylic crown was performed to restore carious incisor without caries removal. Instructions on oral hygiene and appliance maintenance were given to the parents.
Results: Fracture of the crowns was not reported in the cases recorded during any of the recall visits. Retention of the crowns was observed to be good in 100% (N=10) of the cases during the 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up, whereas only 10% of the cases showed poor retention at the 6 months follow-up, that needed re-cementing. Based on the statistical analysis, parental satisfaction was observed to have significantly increased with the progression of time for all the considered parameters.
Conclusion: The study leads to the conclusion that the simple technique of aesthetically restoring the carious primary maxillary incisors allows it to be used in daily clinical practice with a higher rate of success and satisfaction to the child and parent.