Discrepancy in alloy composition of imported and non-imported porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crowns produced by Norwegian dental laboratories

Even though the use of full ceramic crowns have become a well-established practice in dental clinics compare to the last decade, the use of imported casted porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFMs) crowns is still prevalent. The use of imported PFMs is often economically driven; however, when dentists order PFMs, they do not have capabilities to examine its true alloy content. Therefore, we raise the questions whether cheaper imported PFMs have more discrepancies in alloy content compared to domestically produced PFMs? This study included 62 porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns: 41 produced in Norway and 21 imported. Their alloy-composition was determined non-destructively by EDX and SEM. Imported PFMs demonstrated larger deviations compared with non-imported PFMs. Significant deviation was found in key metallic elements in the different alloys (W, In, Pd, Ag). The detected deviations in key element such as Wolfram and Indium could influence the PFMs service time. These finding may be of international concern