WHAT IS DENTAL ZIRCONIA?
Sometimes called “white steel,” zirconia is a ceramic material that has been used to create substructures in cosmetic dentistry to give crowns and bridges a whiter brighter more translucent quality. Zirconia is 100% biocompatible and is the preferred material for numerous medical applications including strong long-lasting artificial hip joints.
Crowns and bridges based on Zirconia are the strongest and most aesthetically translucent restorations available in dentistry today -- up to five times stronger than all-porcelain restorations, nothing looks more like natural teeth. Diamond Zirconia blocks and discs are made using Cold Isostatic Pressing with Tosoh Zirconia powders, the world's largest manufacturer of zirconia used in medical applications.

Why is Translucency Important?
In the past, most crowns and bridges have been Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal (PFM). These restorations, built on a dark metal alloy base, tend to look opaque and monochromatic, with a darker grayness at the gum line. All ceramic dental restorations made with Zirconia match the appearance and translucency of natural teeth.

Is Zirconia Really Stronger than Steel?
In lab tests, Zirconia crowns and bridges were TWICE as strong as PFM (Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal) restorations, and up to FIVE times stronger than other all-ceramic restorations used in dentistry. There simply is NO dental material stronger than Zirconia.

What Does "Biocompatible" Mean?
Zirconia is 100% biocompatible and because the body does not reject zirconia, this material is the preferred modern material for medical applications. Unlike amalgams and metal alloys used in the dentistry in the past, the body accepts zirconia as a natural material, so you don’t have to worry about allergies or adverse reactions.

Diamond High Translucency restorations are the most translucent zirconia materials available, allowing 20-30% more light to pass though than other zirconia materials.
Rather than produce just one formula of zirconia, Diamond produces two, a very strong zirconia for back grinding teeth, and a more translucent formula for front teeth. For cosmetic dentists, there simply isn't a more natural looking restoration than those built on Crystal materials.

In recent decades, all-ceramic restorations have become increasingly popular due to their aesthetic properties. Ceramic materials have a tooth-like transparent appearance and can be shaded to match the patient’s natural tooth color. Empress and other all-procelain crowns have been used for anterior teeth, but only offer a fraction of the strength that a Zirconia crown or bridge can provide. The problem with these porcelain materials is their potential to fracture under stress, which is why they are not recommended for posterior crowns and bridges.
For strength, most dentists today offer Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal (PFM) crowns, which is covered by all insurance, but the metal substructure is still not as strong as Crystal, with the added downside of being non-transparent, dark and dingy. The old paradigm of Empress in the front and PFMs in the back simple doesn't serve the cosmetic and life-long dentistry needs of patients anymore.
Diamond’s High Translucency formula zirconia blocks are up to FIVE TIMES STRONGER than all-porcelain materials, and provide life-long strength plus the aesthetic qualities patients seek.

For long lasting patient solutions, Diamond recommends zirconia frameworks for all crowns and bridges, fabricated with a super-strong 0.5 mm wall thickness for posterior crowns, and optionally, a thinner and more translucent 0.3 mm wall thickness for anterior restorations.