Tiếng Việt
Every time we peruse a trade journal or open my email these days, we’re astounded by the flood of new zirconia products entering the market, many from companies previously unseen in the dental realm or any other field. While these products may hold promise, they lack the extensive experience that comes from a company entrenched in dentistry for over a century. This experience is invaluable in discerning what best serves patients and facilitates the work of Dental Technicians.
we also often hear of labs and clinicians seeking the least expensive products to maximize profit margins. While understandable, prioritizing material cost over manual labor can prove counterproductive, thus, it’s prudent to opt for materials that streamline the restoration process, reducing hands-on time.
Enter the IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime and IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime Esthetic product line, poised to revolutionize workflows in dental labs. IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime and IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime Esthetic offer two versatile zirconia products capable of addressing various restorative needs efficiently. However, awareness about these products remains limited, accompanied by several common queries. Let’s delve into these questions to shed light on these innovations.
What Makes GT Technology Special?
Layered zirconia materials have become commonplace in the market since their introduction in 2013. However, these materials are typically produced from powders with a single yttria content and therefore exhibit uniform translucency throughout. In 2017, Ivoclar launched IPS e.max ZirCAD MT Multi, combining both 4Y and 5Y powders to create different translucency levels within the same disc. Nonetheless, it retained a layered structure with distinct boundaries.
The breakthrough came in 2019 with IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime, introducing GT Technology. GT Technology goes beyond layering, leveraging Optimized Material Conditioning, Innovative Filling Technology, and High-Quality Manufacturing processes.\
Optimized Material Conditioning ensures uniform sintering by synchronizing sintering curves of different zirconia materials, minimizing warpage.This is done by adding sintering inhibitors to the 4Y/5Y zirconia powders and a sintering activator to the 5Y zirconia powders.These additions help to bring the sintering kinetics together so that the materials start and end their condensation at the same time. This limits the warpage of the restoration and makes even the largest of restorations fit precisely across the arch.
Innovative Filling Technology ensures a seamless transition in translucency throughout the disc, enhancing esthetics. The less translucent material (3Y/4Y) begins to fill the mold and continues through a determined level when the more translucent material (5Y) is slowly added. This process continues, slowly reducing the amount of 3Y/4Y material and increasing the amount of 5Y material that is being added, until the last 3mm of the disc is pure 5Y material.
High-Quality Manufacturing finishes once the molds are filled and they undergo pressing to condense them to final thickness. This may involve a single-stage (uniaxial) pressing or a subsequent Cold Isostatic Pressing (CIP). Uniaxial Pressing is standard, compressing the filled mold from the top. Effective for single zirconia types like 3Y/4Y/5Y, it suits longer sintering cycles, allowing larger pores to close during sintering. With IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime and IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime Esthetic, CIP follows. The pressed disc is sealed in a silicone mold, placed in a large vat of liquid, and subjected to high pressure (>14,000 psi). This further condenses the material, shrinking pores for faster sintering—single crowns in 2.5hrs, bridges up to 3-units in 4.5hrs. This allows flexibility for varying lab processes.
Conclusion:
The GT technology of IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime marks a significant breakthrough in the production of multilayered zirconia materials, providing a perfect combination of aesthetics and high precision. Thanks to optimized material processing, advanced filling technology, and high-quality manufacturing processes, IPS e.max ZirCAD Prime not only ensures smooth color transitions and translucency but also minimizes distortion and warping during sintering. This leads to restorations that are highly precise, aesthetically superior, and perfectly suited for complex restoration demands, while also offering flexibility for laboratories during production.
