Effects of Finger Pressure Applied By Dentists during Cementation of All-Ceramic Crowns

OBJECTIVES To compare the finger pressure applied by dentists during cementation and to examine the effect of gender and time of day on finger pressure. METHODS Fifteen dentists (9 males, 6 females) formed a study group and 10 master dies in premolar shape and Turcom Cera all-ceramic crowns were prepared to measure the maximum finger pressure applied by dentists during cementation. The dentists performed a total of 300 cementation processes. One-way analysis of variance and independent t tests were used to evaluate the results. RESULTS A statistically significant difference was found in the amount of pressure applied during cementation (P<.005). However, there was no significant difference for time of day or gender according to one-way analysis of variance. CONCLUSIONS Our results show that finger pressure varies by dentist. For this reason, the optimum pressure should be determined exactly. Special equipment or an apparatus could be developed to apply that pressure.