Demystifying Modern Dental Ceramics

With increasing patient expectation for aesthetic dental restorations, there has been a drive towards developing ceramic materials to meet this expectation. Multiple ceramic systems have been introduced over the past four decades with considerable advances in material properties. Survival rates of all-ceramic crowns differ by type of ceramic used, fabrication method and clinical indication. Zirconia and lithium disilicate are the most commonly used contemporary ceramic materials in dentistry. Survival data for these types of restorations appears to be promising; however, there is a lack of high-quality long-term clinical data on the success of these restorations. In the absence of robust longitudinal clinical research, laboratory studies have provided some useful information on the performance of ceramic restorations. Further high quality long-term clinical studies are needed to inform us of modes of failure of these restorations and the range of clinical circumstances in which each type of ceramic restoration may be used.