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Photo Essay
Another Use for ANTERIOR
BruxZir ® Solid Zirconia Restorations
– ARTICLE by Michael C. DiTolla, DDS, FAGD
One of the most difficult clinical situations restorative dentists face in
clinical practice is treating a patient with severe tetracycline staining.
I treated one of these patients a few years ago with a set of veneers
that were conservative but an esthetic compromise. The tetracycline stains
showing through the veneers were still visible enough to bother the patient.
When we removed the veneers six months later, I prepped 0.6 mm deeper to
make the veneers thicker. But at the try-in appointment, it was clear that the
esthetics hadn’t improved much from the first set. We ended up using lithium
disilicate crowns, which provided an improved result, but there was still some
minor show-through in the gingival third.
Not long ago, the patient’s brother came to see me. He was already prepared
to do crowns, so I wanted to see if BruxZir ® Solid Zirconia crowns (Glidewell
Laboratories) could block out the prep shade. While not as esthetic as lithium
disilicate crowns, I hoped to get a more esthetic overall result by entirely
blocking out the stump shade. Unlike his sister, this patient had fractured nearly
every PFM in his mouth, and the wear in his mouth and his edge-to-edge
bite clearly revealed a severe bruxing habit. Taking this into consideration,
I knew BruxZir Solid Zirconia was the only ceramic material that would stand
a chance of surviving in this hostile oral environment.
Another Use for Anterior BruxZir Solid Zirconia Restorations23