Technical advisor and CDT Tony Megale shows you how to make occlusal adjustments on a full-contoured zirconia crown. Tony takes you through the steps and tools used to achieve the required high luster.
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The Importance of Polish
In its unpolished state, zirconia is highly abrasive and will cause significant wear to the opposing dentition. When zirconia is polished correctly, it creates minimal wear on the opposing teeth.
If a zirconia restoration requires an adjustment in the mouth, re-polishing can be a time-consuming task to do correctly. Before adjusting the polished zirconia, if only minimal adjustments are required, it’s worth considering an adjustment to the opposing dentition instead.
What About Glaze?
Some other labs may only glaze the occluding surfaces of their zirconia, but glaze can wear off quickly and once it does, the highly abrasive zirconia is exposed. When properly polished, zirconia retains its polished surface indefinitely. O’Brien Dental Lab produces all of its zirconia restorations with a thoroughly and properly polished occlusal surface.
What The Experts Say
According to Dr. Gordon Christensen, zirconia should not be glazed because “research has shown glaze quickly wears and roughens which wears opposing dentition” (Christensen, 2014).
Christensen, G. (2014). The Zirconia Revolution: Here to Stay or Not?. Gordon J. Christensen Clinicians Report, 7, 1-2.
