Success and complication rates of non-precious alloy telescopic crowns in a general dental practice.

Objectives: This retrospective, single-center, practice-based cohort study aimed to analyze factors associated with the success of removable partial dentures retained by telescopic crowns (TRPD).

Materials And Methods: TRPD which were placed in a single practice of a practice-based research network were analyzed. Data from 139 patients (age (SD): 66 (11) years; 66 female) with 174 TRPD including 488 non-precious alloy telescopic crowns (TC) between 2004 and 2016 were included. TC without any technical complication were considered as successful, and as survived, if they were still in function at the last check-up. Multilevel Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between clinical factors and time until failure.

Results: Within a mean follow-up period (SD) of 4.2 (3.3) years (min-max: 1 day-12 years), 372 (76%) TC (AFR: 5.0%) as well as 136 (87%) TRPD (AFR: 5.1%) ("worst-case scenario") and 150 (86%) TRPD (AFR: 3.4%) ("best-case scenario") were considered as successful. The main failure types were recementation (n = 39), endodontic treatment (n = 36), and extraction (n = 35). TC in male patients showed 1.6 times higher risk for failure than in female patients (95%CI: 1.1-2.4; p = 0.023). TC on premolars showed 2.2 times higher risk for failure than on incisors (95%CI: 1.1-5.0; p = 0.023) and TC in dentures with ≤ 3TC showed 2.1 times higher risk for failure than TC in dentures with > 3TC (1.3-3.4; p = 0.042). Furthermore, TC on the most distal tooth in an arch showed 2.4 times higher risk for failure than TC on a more mesial tooth (1.5-3.8; p < 0.001).

Conclusion: For removable partial dentures retained by telescopic crowns, high success rates could be found after up to 12 years. Patient-level and tooth-level factors were significantly associated with failure.

Clinical Relevance: For removable partial dentures retained by telescopic crowns, high success rates could be found after up to 12 years. Patient-level and tooth-level factors were significantly associated with failure.