Ceramics, also called ceramic materials, are non-metal compounds made from materials like clay.
Ceramics are hard, strong, and resist heat and chemicals very well. This makes them useful to create many products, including dental crowns and veneers.
A Brief History of Dental Ceramics
Ceramics have actually been used in dentistry for over 200 years.
Porcelain was one of the first dental ceramics ever used. Dental technicians and dentists made dentures and crowns out of porcelain because they could be shaped and colored to match natural teeth. The problem was porcelain was super brittle and broke easily under pressure.
Later on, technicians started adding glass fillers to porcelain to make it stronger. This created the first type of glass ceramic, which was stronger than plain porcelain. Different glass ceramics were developed over the years, with lots of improvements in strength.
One popular glass ceramic used today is lithium disilicate. It has small crystals that make it very sturdy compared to porcelain. Many clear braces and white fillings are made of this material.
What Makes Dental Ceramics So Strong?
Dental ceramics, also called dental porcelain, are specially designed-ceramics for teeth. They are designed to be durable so as to withstand forces from biting and chewing.
Modern ceramic materials used in dentistry are extremely strong and durable. They can resist cracking and fracturing better than older porcelain-type materials.
Here’s why today’s dental ceramics have become so strong:
Improved Production Methods
Ceramics and porcelain are made by shaping clay or glass materials and heating them at very high temperatures. Advances in manufacturing methods allow tighter control over the production process.
With techniques like computer-aided design and automation, dental technicians can make very accurate restoration shapes. The materials can be heated evenly to exact temperatures as well. This results in fewer flaws and structural defects.
Enhanced Chemical Formulas
The chemical makeup of dental ceramics has evolved over time, too. Materials like lithium disilicate glass ceramics have a unique internal structure. The glass phase contains lithium, silicon, and oxygen compounds embedded with leucite crystals.
The crystals help resist cracking from biting pressure. Additional metal oxides can also be mixed in to boost strength. This enables thinner ceramic layers than older porcelain, even for large bridges and crowns.
Strong Substructure Materials
For extra support, high-strength ceramic cores are often combined with overlaying porcelain. Zirconium oxide (also called zirconia) frameworks are a common choice.
Zirconia is exceptionally sturdy and durable. It remains stable even when shaped thin for the substructure. The outer veneer layer then provides aesthetic properties to resemble natural teeth.
Advanced Bonding Techniques
Gluing ceramic materials to teeth has also improved.
Better dental bonding agents create much stronger adhesion to tooth surfaces. This provides additional reinforcement against breakage or chipping long-term.
With advanced production, material engineering, supportive substructures, and bonding methods – modern dental ceramics have truly become amazingly resilient.
Strong Dental Ceramics Used Today
There are a variety of today’s ceramic options that offer high durability for dental work. Some key examples include:
Lithium Disilicate
As mentioned already, lithium disilicate glass ceramics like e.max have outstanding strength properties. The material can resist fractures under chewing forces better than many metal alloys.
This makes lithium disilicate an ideal choice for thin veneers or crowns, even in back molar areas. It can also be layered for highly aesthetic results.
Zirconia
Zirconia, specifically yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP), is exceptionally rigid and fracture-resistant. It rates among the strongest ceramic materials ever created.
Zirconia-based restorations like crowns and bridges have very high biaxial flexural strengths. This is a key indicator of durability under pressure and loading stress.
Monolithic zirconia is tooth-colored for front teeth. It can also be designed in layered combinations with translucent porcelain overlays.
Hybrid Materials
Some newer-generation dental ceramics feature an innovative hybrid formula. These contain both glassy and crystalline structures blended together.
Brands like Vita Enamic have a built-in dual network – flexible polymer chains reinforce a feldspathic ceramic framework. The result is enhanced strength for reliability.
As material engineering continues advancing, more of these unique ceramic hybrids will likely emerge, too.
High Noble Alloys
While technically metals rather than ceramics, some alloys can also incorporate porcelain for strong aesthetic restorations.
High noble gold, platinum, or palladium alloy substrates provide exceptional durability. They can then support overlaying veneer porcelain for beautiful, life-like dental work.
Benefits of High-Strength Dental Ceramics
Using modern ceramic materials offers many advantages compared to older options for dental restorations.
Here are some of the key benefits you can expect:
Extremely Durable
State-of-the-art dental ceramics offer remarkable reliability over years of use. Materials like zirconia and lithium disilicate can withstand biting forces better than many metal alternatives.
Restorations made with high-strength ceramics hold up wonderfully. They are better at resisting chipping, cracking, and fracturing while maintaining their beauty long-term.
Metal-Free
Some patients experience metal sensitivity and exhibit allergic reactions to common alloys with nickel, chromium, or beryllium.
Newer ceramic options eliminate this problem with 100% metal-free restorations. Zirconia and lithium disilicate contain no known allergen materials.
Aesthetically Pleasing
From nearly invisible ultra-thin veneers to lifelike layered crowns, modern ceramics offer today’s most aesthetic solutions. As a result, dentists can match natural tooth shades and textures beautifully – translucency effects mimic real dentition with grace. Consequently, ceramics can easily help create amazing smile makeovers by perfecting imperfect smiles with strong, durable, and gorgeous restorations.
Biocompatible Materials
Advanced dental ceramics have outstanding biocompatible properties. This means they are well tolerated by surrounding oral tissues once placed.
Zirconia, lithium disilicate, hybrid ceramics, and noble/high noble alloys do not irritate gums or bone. This maintains healthy integration and supports long-term.
Minimally Invasive
Unlike traditional PFM metal crowns, high-strength ceramic solutions allow conservative tooth preparation. Dentists can preserve more natural tooth structure with thinner restorations.
With materials like zirconia and lithium disilicate, removal of just 0.3-0.7mm of surface enamel is often sufficient. This spares pulpal irritation risks.
Improve Oral Health
Given the above advantages, quality ceramic restorations ultimately help promote better-lasting dental wellness, too. They rebuild form, function, and facial aesthetics reliably over decades.
Patients can enjoy improved confidence, comfort, and ability to eat all their favorite foods with strong modern ceramics. And so smiling, laughing, and living life uninhibited becomes easy again.
The Dental Ceramic Production Process that Guarantees Strength
Crafting high-end dental ceramics and porcelain requires great expertise in restorative dentistry. While automated techniques help with efficiency, each piece still demands artistic sensibilities.
Let’s examine some key steps dental technicians follow when designing your custom ceramic restoration:
Impression and Model Creation
The skilled dentist first takes an impression of your prepared tooth area. This impression material hardens to capture the exact detail needed for the restoration shape.
Your bite registration is also recorded with a special molding compound. This allows proper contacts and occlusion to be set later.
The impressions and bite registration then get sent to the dental laboratory team. They pour up accurate models of your teeth in stone material. This creates a replica of your unique smile characteristics.
Restoration Design
With the stone model set, the lab team digitally scans and uploads your case into CAD software. Here they can begin virtually designing the ceramic restoration.
The technician ensures proper contours, contacts, margins, and occlusion based on your anatomy. They also select appropriate substrates and overlaying porcelain materials.
Milling and Layering
After finalizing the CAD design, zirconia or lithium disilicate blocks get securely mounted and milled by a precision machine. This forms the shaped substructure or full monolithic anatomy through subtractive carving.
Any overlaying aesthetic porcelain can then be skillfully layered and built up by hand. The technician meticulously mimics natural tooth characteristics with translucent effects.
Firing and Finishing
Once fully formed, the ceramic restoration moves through final firing and glazing cycles. This mature glass phase helps smooth the surface and further enhances strength through heat-induced ion exchange.
Final fitting, contouring, and delicate hand polishing then ensure exceptional accuracy and beautiful lifelike luster ready for delivery to the dentist.
Bonding and Cementation
With exceptional care and artistry, the custom ceramic creation is now ready for placement. The dentist thoroughly cleans and prepares the tooth surface to start.
After trying the restoration for ideal fitting, they bond it permanently in place using strong resin cement and dental adhesives.
Your beautiful new smile is now complete!
Restoration Types and Uses
Here are some of the main uses for reinforced ceramic materials in restorative and cosmetic dentistry:
- Crowns – When teeth become weak, cracked, misshapen, or decayed, a custom dental crown may be required to rebuild their strength and function. Ceramic crowns match the natural shade of teeth and can protect vulnerable areas. Popular options include zirconia, lithium disilicate, and glass ceramic.
- Bridges – Dental bridges replace missing teeth with false teeth that are fused to crowns on surrounding teeth. Materials like zirconia and high-translucency zirconia provide the strength capacity for long-span anterior and posterior bridges. And monolithic zirconia offers metal-free support.
- Veneers – To reshape, repair chips, or brighten front teeth, thin ceramic shells called veneers are bonded onto their surfaces. Both glass ceramic and lithium disilicate provide translucent natural beauty that is perfect for enhancing smiles.
- Inlays/Onlays – Sometimes fillings aren’t enough to rebuild weaker areas of teeth. Ceramic inlays and onlays can provide extra reinforcement with durable physical properties to prevent further breakdown. Glass ceramics excel in these applications.
- Implants – Dental implants fuse artificial roots to the jawbone to replace missing teeth with crowns. Zirconia abutments can connect the implant to full zirconia or porcelain fused to metal crowns for a seamless restoration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you still curious about modern dental ceramics
Here is a compilation of commonly asked dental ceramic FAQs:
How strong are zirconia crowns and other ceramic restorations?
They are very strong!
Materials like zirconia rate over 1000 MPa in flexural strength. That’s nearly twice as sturdy as lithium disilicate, five times stronger than traditional PFM metal, and ten times tougher than old-fashioned porcelain.
While numeric lab testing doesn’t reveal the full picture, you can count on exceptional resistance with quality zirconia. Lithium disilicate still rates favorably around 400 MPa as well.
Do dental ceramics stain more easily than other materials?
While very color stable, ceramics can slowly pick up superficial stains over time from coffee, tea, wine, tobacco, etc. However, these are only surface discolorations that professional dental cleaning easily removes. The actual chemical or structural breakdown of the ceramic integrity itself, which then leads to color change, is negligible with modern options. Taking good care to minimize staining exposure will keep your restorations lustrous for decades.
Is there any downside to ceramic crowns or veneers?
For the most part, ceramic alternatives offer significant upsides over traditional options today. However, no material yet discovered is magic bullet perfect.
Relative to other choices, dental ceramics may carry slightly increased wear and fracture risks in some cases (although modern materials have reached impressive levels in these regards, too through continued progress). There are also often higher laboratory costs involved. But for an increasing portion of patients, such modest trade-offs prove worthwhile.
Do I really need those little metal tabs on my ceramic crown underneath?
In years past, full coverage restorations almost always required metal reinforcement to ensure adequate durability long-term. But continuous advances in ceramic-based materials mean this worry wanes more each year. Given their outstanding flexural strength and fracture toughness, many modern ceramics like zirconia and lithium disilicate can eliminate substructure metals entirely. Thin minimalist preparation conservation further enables this approach.
With exceptional bonding and native material properties, beautiful metal-free smile solutions are increasingly within reach.
The Takeaway
The ongoing evolution of high-strength ceramics gives dentists an exceptional array of metal-free options for restoring form, function, and aesthetic beauty to damaged or missing teeth. Materials like densified zirconia offer physical durability similar to stainless steel. Yet they can be shaped with stunning accuracy for photo-realistic dental restorations.
From nearly indestructible pure-zirconia bridges to translucent veneers with lithium disilicate crystals, reinforced ceramics continue to transform modern dentistry.
Patients with fractures, decay, wear, stains, or gaps can smile bigger and brighter thanks to the amazing science behind these super-strong substances!
