"Doctors consistently tell us that the margins on their BruxZir crowns & bridges feel better to their explorer than the ones on the PFMs they used to prescribe. A closer look at the tooth-restoration interface and emergence profile shows why."

— Michael C. DiTolla, DDS, FAGD

 

On an ideal PFM prep there is enough reduction in the gingival third for the thickness of a PFM. We need room for the metal coping, the opaque layer and the porcelain, which is about 1 mm thick. If a dentist gives us the ideal 1 mm of reduction at the margin, the crown can have an acceptable emergence profile.

This drawing represents the typical PFM prep we receive with a conservative feather-edge margin. When a PFM is fabricated for this prep there is a bulky 1 mm margin on the PFM that catches on the explorer. Even if the margin is sealed, the emergence profile is unacceptable.

This drawing represents the typical PFM prep we receive with a BruxZir crown in place. Because it is a monolithic crown and can be milled to a feather edge, there is no bulk of material, or "speed bump," at the margin. Dentists tell us their explorer cannot detect where the tooth ends and the BruxZir crown begins.

For more information about BruxZir Solid Zirconia and its benefits, please visit www.bruxzir.com.

When we launched BruxZir Solid Zirconia crowns & bridges in 2009, our intention was to provide a monolithic zirconia restoration indicated for bruxers and grinders as an esthetic alternative to posterior metal occlusal PFMs and full-cast metal restorations. The result was a material we said was "More Brawn than Beauty."

Glidewell Laboratories, industry-leading provider of dental lab products and services, announced today the release of its BruxZir Milling System for the milling of authentic BruxZir® Solid Zirconia. The purpose-built, compact BruxZir Mill is custom built at the lab’s California facilities and currently has an approximate order lead time of 10 weeks. Dental laboratories that purchase the BruxZir Milling System will join the growing network of Authorized BruxZir Labs.

The BruxZir Milling System is used to mill crown & bridge restorations or copings and understructures from BruxZir, a monolithic zirconia material with a fracture toughness measured as high as 1450 MPa. Proven production capabilities include output of a single zirconia coping in as little as five minutes, and a full-contour crown in just nine minutes. An open system designed specifically for use with zirconia, it integrates with 3Shape and other popular dental CAD software. The system runs on four axes, with travel range of 150 mm horizontal (x, y) and 75 mm vertical (z). The spindle speed is 50,000 rpm and includes an automatic four-tool changer. Power requirement is 115VAC/15A, and air requirement is 60 PSI. Machine weight is approximately 480 pounds, with outer dimensions of 29"W x 32"D x 72"H.

Purchase of the complete BruxZir Milling System comes with on-site installation and training, as well as production backup via outsource milling support in the event of a service outage. A step-by-step training DVD demonstrating the BruxZir restoration manufacturing process is also included with purchase of the unit.

Dental Laboratories that purchase the BruxZir Milling System will be added to the growing network of Authorized BruxZir Labs. As an Authorized BruxZir Laboratory, the lab gains exposure through national brand marketing of BruxZir. To learn more about BruxZir and to see a full list of Authorized BruxZir Labs, visit www.bruxzir.com. For pricing, more information or to place an order, call Glidewell Direct at 888-303-3975.

With the ever-increasing demand for BruxZir Solid Zirconia, Glidewell Laboratories has continued to devise, test, and implement new processes intended to improve both the quality of these crown & bridge restorations and the efficiency with which they are produced. Often, an innovation in one area provides enhanced results in the other. One such innovation is the new process by which Glidewell technicians clean milled BruxZir restorations and prepare them for coloring.
After Brushing

SEM 5000x

After Ultrasonic

SEM 5000x

Glidewell Laboratories, industry-leading provider of dental lab products and services, announced today its newest green initiative: the recycling of post-milled BruxZir Solid Zirconia Milling Blanks.

The Glidewell Laboratories Research & Development team, using innovative processes, refines quality high-purity yttria-stablized zirconia powder to a significantly reduced grain size, increasing its strength and optical properties. This improved material is then utilized in conjunction with proprietary processes to create monolithic zirconia BruxZir Milling Blanks for the fabrication of virtually chip-proof BruxZir Solid Zirconia crowns, bridges and implant restorations.

While zirconia has many applications in an array of fields, including energy, telecommunications, steel, mining, oil field supply and aerospace, the lab’s reformulation of the material, including advances in nanotechnology, has been recognized as groundbreaking. The strength, high fracture toughness, resistance to thermal shock and translucency of BruxZir Solid Zirconia dental restorations have contributed to its rampant success in the dental profession.

When BruxZir restorations are milled from BruxZir Milling Blanks, not all of the refined zirconia material is utilized. A 98 mm diameter (12 mm thick) blank (300 grams) yields up to 19 single-unit crowns (1.6 grams each). That means only 30 grams worth of BruxZir material is used, or just 10 percent. The lab cannot reuse this material once it has been sintered because the crystallite properties expand exponentially, effectively diminishing its translucent properties.

For the past year, the lab’s senior director of Research & Development Robin Carden has been researching ways to recycle the remaining 90 percent of unused post-milled BruxZir Milling Blank material. “We have been searching for ways to recycle our post-milled BruxZir material since March 2010,” explained Carden. “Because zirconia is wear-resistant and able to withstand high temperatures, this material is ideal for applications such as molten metal nozzles, oil field valves and high temperature insulation.

“By recycling this material, Glidewell Laboratories is reducing its carbon footprint and allowing this material to be repurposed and reused for other applications that involve high temperature, thermal shock, corrosion, and high wear and impact,” Carden added.

Glidewell Laboratories is pleased to launch this recycling program, which will allow other industries to benefit from zirconia’s unique material properties. Additionally, the lab will invite its more than 100 Authorized BruxZir Laboratory partners to participate. For more information about BruxZir Solid Zirconia, please visit http://www.bruxzir.com.

Glidewell Laboratories, based in Newport Beach, Calif., is a privately owned corporation that has more than 40 years of history as a provider of high-quality services and products to dentists and dental laboratories nationwide. It has its own 73-person Research and Development team and is the most resourceful dental laboratory in the world. Its newly developed CAD/CAM processing capabilities are recognized as among the most advanced in the industry. To view our large selection of products and services, visit http://www.glidewelldental.com.

Dr. Gordon Christensen, in the March 2011 issue of Dental Economics, discusses the rise in popularity of all-zirconia tooth-colored restorations – specifically calling out BruxZir Solid Zirconia. He explains that while BruxZir is still relatively new to the dental profession, its many benefits outweigh potential risks and provides clinicians and their patients with restorations that are durable, esthetic and affordable. Click here to read his final verdict.

BruxZir Solid Zirconia clinical indications continue to expand as science validates the benefits of this proprietary material. In a new clinical DVD, "BruxZir Solid Zirconia Crowns & Bridges Clinical Indications and Scientific Validation," Dr. Michael DiTolla shares two anterior crown cases and a BruxZir roundhouse bridge case.

Click to watch the new BruxZir clinical video.

Glidewell Laboratories, industry-leading provider of dental lab products and services and manufacturer of BruxZir Solid Zirconia dental material, Research & Development team has moved closer to producing transparent nanozirconia by successfully synthesizing 3 nm zirconia nanocrystals produced by "bottom-up" nanotechnology.

The research team, led by Ken Knapp, Glidewell Laboratories' program manager and lead researcher, developed a method for producing non-agglomerated 3 nm nanocrystalline zirconia powder using a revolutionary bottom-up nanotechnology technique known as "gas-phase condensation." The focused effort of the nanozirconia research team over the last year has resulted in new discoveries about the nature of sub-5 nm nanozirconia crystals. Glidewell Laboratories has filed a U.S. patent application on the new ceramic nanotechnology (patent pending). This method consists of colliding high-energy yttrium, zirconium and oxygen ions together in an energetic gaseous phase and condensing yttria zirconia nanocrystal particles resulting from atomic collisions during flight in the gas phase. The condensed yttria zirconia nanocrystal particles are separated from the gas phase and collected in the form of nanocrystalline powder. According to Knapp, "The key to making transparent polycrystalline zirconia material is starting with a non-agglomerated yttria zirconia primary crystal size less than 5 nm. Glidewell’s new gas-phase condensation nanotechnology for producing nanozirconia will allow us to overcome the fundamental polycrystalline birefringence barrier to manufacturing a transparent, high-strength monolithic dental ceramic product."


High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image of Glidewell Laboratories’ 3 nm nanocrystalline zirconia material produced by gas-phase condensation “bottom-up” nanotechnology.

Conventional nanozirconia powder is typically produced by "top-down" nanotechnology methods such as hydrothermal synthesis (calcining followed by ball-milling). Many of the nanozirconia powders available on the market today are comprised of hard-agglomerated nanocrystals with a primary crystal size of approximately 30 nm. After sintering, typical nanozirconia grain size is between 500-1000 nm. The top-down method is widely used to produce nanocrystalline materials by breaking down larger particles and agglomerates into smaller ones, typically by ball-milling. The bottom-up nanotechnology method builds up nanoscale materials atom by atom or molecule by molecule. Bottom-up nanoscale science and technology is the state of the art for producing the next generation nanoscale materials and devices. The bottom-up method has a lower scale limit on the atomic or molecular level. Additionally, the bottom-up-produced nanocrystalline structures are not altered during the process of forming the nanoscale crystals, whereas top-down methods alter the crystal structure and surface chemistry.

Robin Carden, senior director of Glidewell Laboratories materials research and development said, "Glidewell’s nanozirconia material produced by the gas-phase condensation method overcomes the inherent sub-5 nm crystal size production barrier and hard-agglomeration formations found in conventional nanocrystalline ceramic processing."


Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of dry-compacted nanozirconia (fractured cross-section) comparing 3 nm hard-agglomerated conventionally produced nanozirconia (left) to Glidewell-produced 3 nm nanozirconia material (right).

Common zirconia dental ceramics are translucent and not transparent as a result of light-scattering during transmission by birefringence and porosity. Light-scattering by birefringence is an intrinsic property of polycrystalline optical materials with an anisotropic crystalline index of refraction. Birefringence is reduced dramatically when the sintered grain size is reduced below 100 nm. Porosity causes light-scattering in the visible spectrum between 400-700 nm, which reduces the zirconia optical transparency.


Optical microscopy image of dry-compacted nanozirconia (fractured cross-section) comparing 3 nm hard-agglomerated conventionally produced nanozirconia (left) to Glidewell-produced 3 nm nanozirconia material (right).  Conventionally produced 3 nm nanozirconia material is white opaque, whereas Glidewell’s gas-phase-condensated nanozirconia is transparent after compaction.

The future for high-strength esthetic nanozirconia is agglomerate-free sub-5 nm powder. James Glidewell, CDT, CEO and president of Glidewell Laboratories said, "Our continued nanozirconia research efforts, from the fundamental way that zirconia nanocrystals are formed to new sintering methods, will allow us to extend our BruxZir® product life into the next generation of nanocrystalline dental ceramics."

For a closer look at BruxZir Solid Zircoinia, visit www.bruxzir.com.

Glidewell Laboratories is a privately owned corporation that has more than 40 years of history as a provider of high-quality services and products to dental laboratories nationwide. It has its own 73-person Research and Development team and is the most resourceful dental laboratory in the world. Its newly developed CAD/CAM processing capabilities are recognized as among the most advanced in the industry. To view our large selection of products and services, visit www.glidewelldental.com.

We are continually seeing more and more dentists placing BruxZir Solid Zirconia in the esthetic zone. Below are photos from a BruxZir anterior case, sent to us from a dentist and milled by one of our authorized BruxZir labs.

"This patient's anterior case came out great. I just wanted to share the before and after photos with you. BruxZir keeps surprising us."

Before


After


– Janet S., DDS, Oaklawn, IL
   Ceramics by Precision Ceramics Dental Laboratory, Montclair, CA

Having survived countless hours of rigorous scientific testing at the hands of Glidewell Laboratories' award-winning R&D department, BruxZir® has been called "chip-proof," "bullet-proof," and "virtually unbreakable."  Never satisfied, we decided to up the ante by pitting it against a traditional PFM in a less conventional test we dubbed... the Hammer Test.

View the Hammer Test: BruxZir vs PFM video.