Zirconia Dental Lab

It is best practice to give approximately 0.5mm of space when prepping for posterior crowns. The proper occlusal reduction is between 1 and 1.5mm or 1.5 to 2mm. Using a shoulder or chamfer margin style, provide for a 0.5m reduction at the gingival margin. 

For anterior zirconia dental crowns, you’ll need to leave at least 0.3 mm of space to accommodate the crown’s wall thickness. Additionally, you’ll need to account for an incisal reduction of either 1 to 1.5 mm or 1.8 to 2.0 mm. At the gingival margin, you’ll need a reduction of at least 0.5mm.

Double cord is the best option for retraction due to the increased accessibility and improved displacement of tissue. Pack two knitted cords (soaked in a hemostatic material and at different diameters) and leave the larger cord in place for at least five minutes before pulling and scanning for optimal results.

Digital scans benefit most from adequate tissue retraction when using zirconia crowns and in the event of a poor scan identified chairside, minimal effort is required to re-scan for optimal results.

Yes, polishing zirconia differs from polishing porcelain because the two materials have a different hardness scale. The polishing agents you use will have different abrasive materials in the polishing paste. You can use polishing paste for porcelain with zirconia but you’ll be working four times harder. To polish zirconia, do it under irrigation first and foremost, so that you can add micro fracturing to the restoration. There are a lot of polishing materials available on the market, some specifically made for specific materials so make sure to look for one made for the restorative material you’re using.

There aren’t many downsides of zirconia crowns. At times when there is not enough occlusal space, zirconia may not be the best option. In the past, it could be difficult to match zirconia crowns to the color of adjacent teeth and there could be potential damage to neighboring teeth – but with digital dentistry advancements like  intraoral scanning and CAD/CAM design, shade matching workflows ensure the zirconia dental crowns are the perfect shade and digital dental designs place special emphasis on proper spacing and alignment of zirconia crowns. Learn more about zirconia crown advantages and disadvantages here! 

Learn about preparing, pretreating, applying cement, cleaning the area, and curing here.