Reliability and strength of all-ceramic dental restoration made in DCM process.

F. Filser, P. Kocher, F. Weibel, A. Lüthy, P. Schärer, L.J. Gauckler

All-ceramic dental bridges for the lateral tooth region do not come cheap at the moment. The new direct ceramic machining (DCM) process enables easy, safe and fast manufacture of high-strength biocompatible all-ceramic dental restorations for this application.
For this, a basic framework made of a prefabricated porous and thus easy-to-machine zirconium oxide blank is enlarged, cut out and finally sintered through. There’s no further need for time-consuming hard machining. Porcelain veneers enable adaption to individual aesthetic requirements.
Zirconium oxide suprastructures have more than twice the strength of those made of In-Ceram Alumina and IPS Empress2. Even the highest masticatory forces in the lateral tooth region can be absorbed by bridges with a zirconium oxide suprastructure. The reliability of zirconium oxide bridges made with the DCM process is much higher than that of those made with In-Ceram Alumina and IPS Empress2.
One-year clinical results of three-unit bridges in the lateral tooth region show no rejection whatsoever.