Metal Free
Metal Free Restorations
Zirconia or Emax - which is best?

Trick question - there is no "best" crown. Depending on factors such as how much room we have, the shade of the underlying tooth and the preparation margins we assess each case on an individual basis. We use our own in-house CADCAM milling system to mill both types of framework - Sirona inLab. We've found these frameworks to always be of the highest quality. Our zirconia restorations are conventionally cemented, but please avoid polycarboxylate due to its excessive expansion.
Zirconia Crowns
Zirconia or Zirconium Oxide is the newest addition to the family of dental ceramics, it has been used extensively in medicine for hip replacements and in jewellery for the mimicking of diamonds. In its medical capacity it has shown itself to be highly reliable in high stress situations.

If you are doing large reconsruction cases we strongly recommend using our Smile Design Protocol to get the most predictable and reliable result.

How do we make our Dental Zirconia Crowns?

We scan and design our zirconia frameworks ourselves so we can keep a consistent quality to our work. Smaller frameworks are milled in-house, shortening the production time for our restorations.

The frameworks are layered with ceramics in a simliar way to PFM crowns, but with a much more aesthetic core material. The end result is a highly aesthetic restoration, suitable for most crown and bridge cases.



Preparation guidelines for Zirconia crowns:
Full contour Zirconia


Our full contour zirconia crowns are designed in-house to ensure we have the exact crown that we would like. They are fitted down and glazed to give an incredibly strong restoration with good aesthetics.
Emax Crowns
Emax at SBO Dental Laboratory is used for cases where a good balance between aesthetics and strength is needed.

 We use them for dentine bonded crowns in the posterior and anterior region when a small amount opacity is required i.e. the underlying tooth is not too dark or there is not a lot of anterior room for the restoration. For maximum strength or to hide dark teeth we recommend zirconia. We do not recommend Emax for bridgework
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How do we make emax?

We use IPS e.max CAD glass-ceramic blocks to produce our e.max restorations. The amazing natural appearance of emax is further enhanced by the nano-fluorapatite layering ceramic , which is used as a veneering material. IPS e.max CAD is a lithium silicate glass-ceramic block for CAD/CAM Technology. It is manufactured in an innovative process, which results in the exceptional homogeneity of the material. 

Emax restorations can either be layered with ceramic for a more natural looking restoration (recommended for anteriors) or made as a monolithic restoration for increased strength. Whichever form of restoration you choose, it should always be dentine bonded as emax is more resistant to failure when bonded rather than cemented.


Useful Emax Resources:
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