Last December, when I completed my next Top 5 Test Drives article for my Technology Evangelist column in Dental Products Report it was my annual Top 5 Test Drives column. Its become a tradition that in our final issue of the year, I review five of the products I've tested and I tell the profession why I'm so happy with them.
One of 2023 winners was Chairside Zirconia, Powered by Roland DGA, a material that I had been using for several months when I wrote the column and continue to use with great success in my DGShape mill.
As a material, zirconia has exploded on the dental market in the past few years. A survey by the American Dental Association mentioned that 99% of dentists surveyed stated they deliver zirconia restorations. Now that doesn't mean that 99% of crowns cemented every day are zirconia, but it does mean that almost every dentist uses it for some of their fixed prosthetics cases.
It is a very strong material and research has helped create versions of it that are much more aesthetic than when the material first came to market. That increase in aesthetics, combined with its strength, has what has propelled the use of zirconia in the profession.
However, the strength of zirconia comes from a process called sintering. It's accomplished by use of a sintering furnace to heat the material to very high temperatures for pretty specific amounts of time. The sintering process can be complicated. Some materials require firing at very specific temperatures and holding them there for very specific times (this is referred to as the dwell time) which ensures complete sintering.
The furnace program carefully controls the heating and cooling rates throughout the process. Slow and controlled heating and cooling are essential to prevent cracking of the material. The furnace then cools the material slowly and gradually to room temperature.
Now I'm sure that sounds like a complicated and very technique sensitive process... because it is.
However, the incredible thing about Chairside Zirconia, Powered by Roland DGA is that the material is pre-sintered. What that means to the clinician using the Roland DGA product is that there is no sintering required. We simply take the block out of the package, place it in the DGShape mill, and let the mill do its work.
When the mill has completed the process, we have, an incredibly aesthetic restoration with unparalleled strength. We take the restoration out of the mill, polish it with zirconia polishers, and deliver it to the patient.
The final restoration is beautiful and strong... just as you'd expect from the material. The benefits are incredible. We don't do any kind of sintering in a furnace, because we don't have to. It is mill, polish, place.
Since my Top 5 Test Drive column hit print, we have continued to use Chairside Zirconia, Powered by Roland DGA. We've been milling and placing these restorations for almost a year now and my personal experience has been amazing. If you are looking for a simple and easy way to do in-office milling, this material is something you should check out.
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