Perfect aesthetics
Due to its characteristic shimmer after final sintering and the different translucency, the zircon crown is visually difficult to distinguish from the patient’s own natural tooth. StarCeram® Z-Blanks can be used in the posterior to anterior region from veneer to crown up to 16-unit bridges. Thanks in particular to many years of experience in the manufacture of blanks, StarCeram® Z blanks have excellent abrasion properties and can therefore be used very well in the opposing jaw with original dentition.
Great wearing comfort
Zirconium has a lower thermal conductivity than metal. Its conductivity is much closer to that of natural tooth substance, which results in another advantage: Its wearing comfort is very high, because the zircon crown does not transmit stimuli such as heat or cold to the dental nerve as strongly as metal. The electrical tingling that can occur when metal dentures come into contact with other metals (cutlery or aluminum foil) also cannot occur with an all-ceramic crown.
High opacity
Unlike crowns with a metal framework, a zircon crown will not show dark margins on the neck of the tooth or gum line over time as the metal framework shows through.
Open system
StarCeram® Z Blanks made of 100% Tosoh material are universally suitable for all common CAD milling machines with a clamping ring for blanks 99mm in diameter, and are carried by authorized partners worldwide.
Biocompatibility
For many dentists and patients in need of dental restorations, the zircon crown is considered the champion of artificial dental crowns: It is metal-free and therefore free of allergy risks and perfectly compatible with the body – in a word, biocompatible.
Your reliable partner
If you would like to become a dental partner of one of the largest manufacturers for technical ceramics, please contact us here
Our line of StarCeram® products
The products from our StarCeram® line offer a solution to every challenge. StarCeram® Al-Med-HD is ideal for frameworks thanks to its high flexural strength and covers dark stumps due to its low translucency. StarCeram® Z-Nature Ultra is suitable for all applications that do not require the highest translucency. Thanks to its class 5 flexural strength according to EN ISO 6872:2015 > 800 MPa, it is suitable even for 16-unit bridges. The particularly high translucency of StarCeram® Z-Smile enables maximum translucency so that your anterior restoration has an appearance very similar to the real tooth.
All our blanks are available in white (opaque) and pre-shaded in various colors.
Z-Nature Ultra and Z-Smile are also available as multishades. Here, the different layers of color reproduce the soft color gradient of a natural tooth, starting from the dark neck, through the middle dentin. to the high translucency in the incisal edge.
Our latest product in the StarCeram® line is StarCeram® complete:
Specially developed 2D and 3D pastes for finalizing and characterizing fully ceramic monolithic restorations made with StarCeram® Z blanks.
All StarCeram® complete pastes are fluorescent and have been adapted to reproduce the fluorescence of a natural tooth
Practical advice on how to distinguish blanks:
Because there are so many different types of zirconium on the market, it can be confusing to choose the right blank for each of the many different types of restorations. We recommend dividing zirconium into three main categories based on strength and optical transmission. The first is low translucency, which means that the flexural strength is 1,200 MPa or more (found on the market as HS or HT). The second category is extratranslucent (other designations include HT, HT+), which means that it has a flexural strength of 900-1,000 MPa. And finally, highly translucent (other designations include ST, HTS, XTS), in which the flexural strength is about 600 to 700 MPa.
Therefore, we recommend taking the flexural strength as a basis.
Each type of zirconium has its special place in the laboratory. The chart below can help you decide when to use which type of zirconium for the type of restoration you are fabricating. The left column includes factors to consider when determining which zirconium is a good fit for a particular case, including translucency, the material’s ability to cover a dark stump, whether or not you are working on a bridge application, the material’s ability to be layered, or whether or not you want to work with a full-contour monolithic material.*
| Flexural strength | Class 5 per EN ISO 6872:2015 > 800 MPa | Class 5 per EN ISO 6872:2015 > 800 MPa | Class 4 per EN ISO 6872:2015 > 500 MPa |
| Translucence | Low | Extra | High |
| Suitable for | Monolithic ceramics for dental prostheses including partially or fully veneered frameworks for four or more pontics or fully veneered frameworks for dental prostheses with four or more pontics. | Monolithic ceramics for dental prostheses including partially or fully veneered frameworks for four or more pontics or fully veneered frameworks for dental prostheses with four or more pontics. | Very close to the natural tooth |
| Stump covering capacity | Good | Good | Low |
| Layering capability | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full contour of monolithic work | No | Yes | Yes |
| Indication | StarCeram® Z materials are suitable for the fabrication of dental prostheses in the form of crowns and bridges (as copings, pontics, and in fully anatomical design with up to two pontics in the posterior region and up to four pontics in the anterior region), even including continuous beams, telescopes, Maryland bridges, inlays, onlays, and free-end bridges (with up to two pontics). | StarCeram® Z materials are suitable for the fabrication of dental prostheses in the form of crowns and bridges (as copings, pontics, and in fully anatomical design with up to two pontics in the posterior region and up to four pontics in the anterior region), even including continuous beams, telescopes, Maryland bridges, inlays, onlays, and free-end bridges (with up to two pontics). | StarCeram® Z-Smile is suitable for the fabrication of dental prostheses in the form of crowns and bridges (as copings, pontics, and in fully anatomical design as up to three-unit bridges in the anterior and posterior region), even including continuous beams, telescopes, Maryland bridges, inlays and onlays |
This is only an overview. The specific instructions enclosed with each round blank are definitive.
Contact Person
If you are interested, you are welcome to consult:
Matthias Koch
Senior Sales Manager
E matthias.koch@kyocera-precision.com
T +49 9287 807-150
M +49 151 16763507
All Contact Persons
Dental digitization
In dental technology/treatment, we use the term digitization when the impression is digitally captured with a scanner. This can be done directly (intraoral scanner) or with a model scanner. In the second step, the restoration is virtually designed on the basis of this 3D image (STL file) using dental CAD software. This restoration (e.g. crown, bridge or even telescope work) is transferred to the CAM software (machine control) of the milling machine and then milled accordingly.
The advantages
Improved accuracy
Conventional impressions can warp, causing inaccurate fit and marginal errors in your restorations. The improved accuracy of scanners means less rework. Accurate scans also allow the cost of reproducing an occlusion to be minimized. More accuracy means a higher level of predictability in your restorations – and the result is higher customer satisfaction.
Improved efficiency
More and more dentists and dental laboratories are using scanners. This means that communication between the laboratory and the dentist is significantly improved. Digital files offer a better representation compared to traditional impression and plaster models, eliminating the possibility of errors. In addition, reproduction and high quality control is only possible in this form.
Innovative materials
A digital workflow means more indications are available, and therefore more different materials. For example, zirconium, which offers a better quality restoration in less time.
And certainly happier patients
Metal-free zirconium from StarCeram® Z ensures a long-lasting, solid restoration. Careful and precise manufacturing of the blanks gives laboratories a solid foundation for happy patients. Quality through experience by manufacturing in Selb, Germany since 2007.
Our manufacturing
Zirconium oxide was introduced to the dental market in the 2000s and blanks have been made from it in Selb since 2007. In the beginning it was a very hard ceramic, which was only suitable as a framework material. These materials were opaque and only available in white discs (first-generation zirconium). Dipping was required for dyeing and glazing. Innovation has now brought us zirconium oxide in the fourth generation.
Every StarCeram® blank is manufactured in Germany using the SingleCIP® process (second isostatic pressing) with the highest precision. The precision of HP process ensures that each blank is manufactured with a maximum deviation of 0.20 mm in height, so a multi-unit bridge can be manufactured flat, saving time in the milling process.
HP manufacturing ensures that blanks are gentle on tools and have excellent milling properties. This makes it easier to cut out restorations and insert them with a high accuracy of fit.
The Single CIP® process allows very high edge stability, reducing waste and resulting in a higher economic benefit per blank. This means that more restorations can be fabricated per blank and the amount of material used per crown, for example, is reduced, resulting in a higher cost-benefit ratio – innovation made in Germany.
Kyocera Fineceramics Europe GmbH manufactures to the highest of quality standards. Not just according to DIN ISO 13458, but also according to DIN ISO 14001 (environmental management) and DIN ISO 50001 (energy efficiency).
