Effect of die spacer on the seating of complete cast gold crowns with grooves

Fifty crowns were constructed with an indirect technique for a standardized Ivorine tooth preparation to determine whether casting relief would improve the seating of complete cast crowns with zinc phosphate cement. The variables were two grooves in the preparations and die spacer casting relief of approximately 20 to 40 micron. The tooth preparations of two groups had no grooves, but castings were made with internal relief for only one group. Three groups had buccal and lingual grooves in the preparation. One group had no relief, a second group had complete relief, and a third group had relief but not in the grooves. The discrepancies noted before and after cementation of the castings were measured. The average discrepancy for each group and the significance between groups was determined. Results of this study demonstrated the following. Die relief significantly improved the seating of complete cast-gold crowns with or without grooves. Omitting die spacer from grooves did not reduce the benefits of relieving the remainder of the die. Partial internal relief was better than no relief. The grooves did not disrupt seating when die spacer application was complete or specifically omitted from the grooves alone.