Glossary

Zirconia is a newer material used for dental crowns. In the past, dental crowns were made of metals like silver or gold, resin, and porcelain. Zirconia is stronger than porcelain but just as natural looking. Zirconia teeth are nearly indistinguishable from your own teeth and are similar in size, shape, and color. Because it doesn’t require as much preparation to the natural tooth, the price of zirconia is affordable compared to other dental crown materials. When comparing a zirconia crown vs. porcelain crown, there are numerous benefits that zirconia crowns have over porcelain. Zirconia crowns can be milled in the dental office and put in during the same visit, whereas porcelain crowns are typically made in a lab outside the dental office. Zirconia crowns can be cemented or bonded and are biocompatible. Because of these benefits, zirconia crowns are growing in popularity for both crowning natural teeth and dental implants.

A zirconia abutment offers an esthetic alternative to metal implant abutments. Due to the white color of zirconia, abutments made of this material are often not as noticeable. Zirconia abutments can be custom milled or ordered as stock abutments from a specific manufacturer. They are available in a variety of configurations with or without pre-machined margins. The aesthetics of zirconia is often a selling point with patients that have thin gum tissue as there is no gray metal to show through along the gum line. While a zirconia implant is very strong, titanium is known to be even stronger with a higher elasticity which helps resist micro-fractures. The zirconia abutment price is also higher than that of a titanium abutment due to the nature of zirconia. When considering the zirconia abutment vs. the titanium abutment, these are just a few of the factors to research.