All Ceramic Dental Crown
Just as their name implies, all-ceramic dental crowns are restorations whose full thickness is made entirely of a glass-like substance, such as porcelain.
- The original type of all-ceramic was the “porcelain jacket.”
- Nowadays, instead of porcelain, it’s much more likely that an “engineered” compound is used.
(To keep things simple, on this page we just use the word “porcelain” to refer to all types of dental ceramics.)Some of the brand names associated with all-ceramic crowns are: Dicor, Cerapearl, Optec, Empress, BruxZir, IPS e.max, Vitadur, Hyceram, Cerestore, Procera, Inceram, Cerec, ProCad, Vitablocs and Paradigm
Advantages of Ceramic Crowns.
The single biggest advantage of placing an all-ceramic crown instead of other types has to do with appearance.
- Their 100% ceramic construction allows them to altogether avoid some problems that must be managed when other types of crowns are used.
- Some of the fabrication techniques used to make these crowns can produce results that are amazingly lifelike and unmatched by any other type of restoration.
Placing an all-ceramic crown may offer some advantages in regard to biocompatibility.
- The types of ceramics used to make them are typically no more abrasive than dental enamel itself (gold crowns have this advantage too.).
In comparison, the type of porcelain used to make PFM crowns can be very abrasive to opposing teeth and dental restorations and cause significant wear of them (especially in cases where it hasn’t been polished or glazed appropriately). - While relatively rare, some people are allergic to some of the component metals found in the various types of alloys that can be used to make PFM crowns.
Advantages of Ceramic Crowns.
Disadvantages of all-ceramic crowns.
- In terms of durability and longevity, no type of crown compares to an all-metal one.
- In those applications where the appearance of an all-metal would not be acceptable, porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns are next in line for having an established track record of being able to deliver lasting service.
Ceramic crowns are comparatively less predictable.
All-ceramics certainly don’t have the same long-term track record for longevity and durability as all-metal and PFM crowns do. And in fact, some types of ceramics have substantially inferior physical characteristics in terms of strength, hardness, brittleness, and resistance to fracture.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that an all-ceramic can’t make a good choice, even for a back tooth (see below). But in cases where durability and longevity are vital, these issues should be thoroughly discussed with your dentist before you choose to have one placed.
Note: Milled crowns can be characterized by “staining and glazing” them. But this is just a surface treatment and doesn’t generate the same enamel-like luster as explained above.
