The aim of this prospective randomised controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the clinical outcome of shrinkage-free ZrSiO4 -ceramic full-coverage crowns on premolars and molars in comparison with conventional gold crowns over a 5-year period. Two hundred and twenty-three patients were included and randomly divided into two treatment groups. One hundred and twenty-three patients were restored with 123 ZrSiO4 -ceramic crowns, and 100 patients received 100 gold crowns, which served as the control. All crowns were conventionally cemented with glass-ionomer cement. After an observation period of 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months, the survival probability (Kaplan-Meier) for the shrinkage-free ZrSiO4 -ceramic crowns was 98·3%, 92·0%, 84·7%, 79% and 73·2% and for the gold crowns, 99%, 97·9%, 95·7%, 94·6% and 92·3%, respectively. The difference between the test and control group was statistically significant (P = 0·0027). The gold crowns showed a better marginal integrity with less marginal discoloration than the ceramic crowns. The most common failure in the ceramic crown group was fracture of the crown. The 60-month results of this prospective randomised controlled clinical trial suggest that the use of these shrinkage-free ZrSiO4 -ceramic crowns in posterior tooth restorations cannot be recommended.