CAD/CAM all-ceramic crowns at the crossroads between cost pressure and perfectionism

Cast gold crowns are still more affordable than tooth-colored crowns. Through improved manufacturing processes and easier handling in the clinical setting, however, CAD/CAM crowns will reach a price level similar to that of cast crowns and may thus replace them to a large extent. Most new ceramic materials are tooth-colored; due to their high strength, they allow for simple chamfer preparation and conventional cementation. New methods of cementing with self-adhesive composite resins are easier than using classic Harvard cement. With the inLab 3D application by Sirona, it is possible to fabricate automatically generated mono-ceramic crowns that feature adequate occlusal anatomy with only a few clicks of your mouse. Beside the inexpensive monochromatic CAD/CAM crown, there also are partially veneered CAD/CAM crowns ("compact crowns") and crowns with laboratory-manufactured facings, which are applied to almost indestructible CAD/CAM milled zirconia copings. Given this variety of manufacturing options, all-ceramic CAD/CAM crowns could replace metal restorations completely-at least in the case of single-tooth restorations.