The objective of this study was to compare the early clinical effects of zirconia all-ceramic crowns using two different impression methods. Zirconia ceramic crowns were produced using digital models based on either a silicone rubber impression perfusion model in vitro or a 3D mouth scanner.

A total of 50 patients with a planned restoration of the first permanent molar with zirconia all-ceramic crowns after root canal therapy were selected and randomly divided into two groups: a digital impression by intraoral 3D scanning group and a digital impression by extraoral scanning after silicone rubber impression group. Zirconia all-ceramic crowns were created by CAD/CAM in both groups. Marginal adaptation, proximal contact, and occlusal contact were compared between groups.

There was no significant difference between the two groups in marginal adaptation (P > 0.05). For proximal contact and occlusal contact, no significant differences regarding the number of cases for the criteria of level A and level B were found between two groups (P > 0.05), while the misfit value in level B was smaller in the first group than in the second group (P < 0.05).

Zirconia all-ceramic crowns with intraoral 3D scanning show excellent early clinical performance.