3 Reasons to Choose 3M Chairside Zirconia
3M offers clinicians a winning system for delivering strong, esthetic CAD/CAM restorations and achieving a streamlined, same-day workflow
Prized for its strength and increasing esthetics, zirconia has quickly become a popular choice for crowns and bridges. But not all materials are created equally, with many zirconia products on the market sacrificing esthetics for strength or vice versa. 3M Chairside Zirconia, however, offers the best of both worlds, empowering dentists to deliver same-day restorations that are both durable and esthetic. Michael Snider, DMD, a Greenwood, SC-based practitioner and respected digital dentistry expert and educator, recently shared his insights as to what makes 3M Chairside Zirconia an exceptional material.
1. Balanced Strength and Esthetics. One of the historical challenges clinicians have faced when it comes to zirconia is attaining the right balance between strength and esthetics. “A lot of zirconia materials are super strong, but they don’t look great,” Dr. Snider explained. “And then you have others that are really pretty but lose their strength.” As a 4Y material with a high flexural strength of 1000 MPa (fast-fired), Dr. Snider finds that 3M Chairside Zirconia occupies the “sweet spot” between a durable, long-lasting material and one that ensures an ideal, natural-looking appearance.
“The unique 4Y structure of 3M Chairside Zirconia gives it the beauty that we see in more translucent materials, whether it be high-strength glass ceramics or 5Y zirconia, but it gives me the strength that I want from a 3Y type,” Dr. Snider said. Available in pre-shaded blocks that match the VITA classical shades, 3M Chairside Zirconia’s esthetics permit placement even beyond the second molars: “I’m comfortable placing it not just posteriorly but in more esthetic areas because of the inherent translucent nature of the material.”
“I’m comfortable placing it not just posteriorly but in more esthetic areas because of the inherent translucent nature of the material.”
- Michael Snider, DMD
2. Faster Same-Day Workflow. Single-visit, or same-day, dentistry is more than just a trend, it’s becoming the new standard: “At this point, our patients expect us to be doing things digitally and to provide same-day dentistry,” Dr. Snider affirmed. With efficiency enabled by high-temperature sintering furnaces and modern milling units, 3M Chairside Zirconia allows providers to meet—and even exceed—patient expectations.
“Milling of 3M Chairside Zirconia using the CEREC Primemill from Dentsply Sirona has been incredible in my practice,” Dr. Snider reported. He shared that, with 3M Chairside Zirconia and the unit’s Super Fast mode, he can typically mill a full-contour restoration in 5 minutes or less. “This not only allows me to achieve a reliable same-day procedure, but I can also usually have the patient in and out of the chair in around 90 minutes.”
3. Simplified Cementation. Another stumbling block dentists encounter when working with zirconia is cementation. But by combining 3M Chairside Zirconia with 3M RelyX Universal Resin Cement and 3M Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive, 3M gives clinicians a simple, hassle-free system for reliably achieving excellent bond strength. “3M’s system is unique because it’s just one bonding agent and one cement,” Dr. Snider shared. “I don’t have to go through multiple steps or worry about curing the bonding agent before cementation, which makes the cementation a lot less technique sensitive.” With a prep that offers good mechanical retention, Dr. Snider reports that the self-adhesive RelyX Universal Resin Cement allows him to “simply use the cement, put the crown on, and go.” However, in cases that require it, additional application of 3M Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive instantly provides a marked increase in bond strength.
Besides their ease of use, Dr. Snider also appreciates the flexibility afforded by the duo of 3M RelyX Universal Resin Cement and 3M Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive: “I don’t just use that bonding agent when I’m delivering indirect restorations like crowns, I also use it when I’m doing direct composite restorations,” he said. “So instead of having a cart full of different materials and my assistants having to fumble through multiple bonding agents, regardless of the procedure, they just have to learn one system—it’s all the same streamlined workflow.”
To learn more about 3M Chairside Zirconia, 3M RelyX Universal Resin Cement, and #M Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive, visit 3m.com/Dental.
