Zirconia Milling Blocks/Crowns

Question for all of you immersed in dental sales. Who makes the best dental milling blocks that are used for crowns? Are the best crowns milled from Zirconia blocks? All perspectives are appreciated.

 

If you are talking about chair side milling by a dentist then by far Lithium Disilicate, also known as e.max are the strongest and most used blocks. They have to be fired for about 15 mins after milling to crystalize to full strength. Zirconia is not really used chair side, I.e in the dental office because the dentist needs the Inlab milling unit and zirconia has to be fired for 5-6 hours making it impractical or one appt. dentistry. Esthetically zirconia tends to be more milky and less translucent and does not have the same shades as other materials. The new Lava Ultimate block by 3m is becoming popular as well. It's a hybrid made from a resin that is highly filed with ceramic nano particles. No need to fire it, polishes up nicely and offers very high strength and a 10 year warranty against breakage from 3M.

 

Thanks for the feedback. What would you say the percent of crowns that are milled chairside vs having them done in a lab?

 

104.7235 %

 

Get the F outa here with your research.

Coffee is for Cosers, Dick.

 

There are a total of about 17,000 CEREC machines in labs and in Dental offices. The vast majority are in dental offices. About 2000 in labs. ZIrconia is not a feasible material to use with CEREC chairside because it has to be fired for 4-5 hours after being milled. So the reason why a doctor bought the CEREC-chairside one appointment crowns is not doable.
Zirconia right now is a lab material. My opinion would be to sell a Zirconia than dentists can mill abutments chairside. Thats something that is still in the works, and not yet easily done.

 

Glidewell is selling the most popular blocks in the world at this point. BruZir is stealing marketshare from Ivoclars emax. Almost every other company is making a copy of it, but none of them really compare.

 

There is a trend towards zirconia, and the trend is happening with faster sintering furnaces. Still with a 2hr sinter process, so not fast enough for a clinician, but companies see there is an interest in Zr. material so many companies see a crack in the door, especially with the new zirconia coming out to the market, much more esthetic than previous versions. Just look at the new multilayer blanks, with speedier sintering process without affecting the esthetics it could be interesting proposition, but don't know how much competition it will be to cerec

 

Try 13 minute firing for the new Sirona Zircad blocks in their Speedfire ovens. So they look good? No they look like total crap but they fire fast and are strong.