When To Use Zirconia For Dental implants?

Dr Neville says zirconia has rapidly evolved over the last 10 years, and is now his material of choice for a wide range of restorations. But he points out that zirconia is not always his go-to material. He says it’s important to understand when zirconia is the best choice, and when it’s not.

“Most of our restoration implants are now made with zirconia,” he explains. “Zirconia is excellent for back-of-the-mouth posterior crowns. It also tends to be a good choice for single crown implants. You can also use zirconia for bonded bridges, and for more traditional bridges with abutments on either side.”

Dr Neville adds that while it is possible to use zirconia for inlays and onlays, it’s not necessarily his first choice of material.

“It’s a common misconception that you cannot use zirconia for inlays and onlays. You actually can use it. However, the preparation for zirconia inlays and onlays is very technique specific, so it would be my second choice in those cases. But if the dentist is comfortable with the preparation technique, zirconia can certainly be used for inlays and onlays.”

It’s also critical to note that undercuts or gutter preparations are unsuitable for zirconia restorations. Likewise, 90° shoulder and parallel wall preparations, and sharp incisal or occlusal edges are also unsuitable for zirconia restorations.

However, new developments in aesthetic zirconia are making it an increasingly attractive material for cosmetic work. It is now often used in veneers, but Dr Neville says it remains something of a balancing act.

On the plus side, he explains, new multi-layered monolithic zirconias offer higher levels of translucency, which translates to better cosmetic outcomes.

“The advantage of zirconia with some types of veneers is the brightness you can achieve with them. So if you have a patient who wants really bright, white veneers, zirconia is a good option.

“But as the translucency increases, the strength of the zirconia decreases. New monolithic zirconias have increased the strength of the material for aesthetic use, so zirconia veneers are strong and can be done quite well these days. But it’s still a balancing act. For that reason, zirconia is probably still not our first choice for veneers.”

However, Glorious 4D Pro Zirconia uses multi-gradient layering manufacturing to achieve an industry-leading gradient colour transition.

This, along with a 16-shade colour matching system, means we can now deliver a completely new level in personalised aesthetics to match the product’s vastly superior strength.

It all comes down to the next-generation manufacturing process. Uniform two-way dry pressing ensures stable density and performance, and isostatic pressing creates an ultra-high isotropic pressure state. High temperature crystallisation is then achieved with step-by-step heating at a homogenous temperature field.

That is a massive step forward in the development of aesthetic zirconia for cosmetic use.