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Understanding the importance of patient satisfaction is one of the key areas on which Burbank Dental Lab is focused. This is especially true when a patient chooses a cosmetic procedure to enhance their smile.
Patient satisfaction is an indicator that can reflect the quality of care in a dental practice. With the explosion of social media and the ability to instantly share experiences within various social media platforms, it has never been more critical to ensure patients’ expectations are met. Clinicians rely heavily on dental labs to gather, interpret, and produce restorations that reflect the patient’s needs. This requires experience, knowledge, and the best materials and systems available to strive for improvement within the patient’s dental experience.
Cosmetic Dentistry
When it comes to cosmetic dentistry, the key is to restore cases using minimally invasive procedures appropriately. Preservation of tooth structure is a big influencer in the treatment of dental patients.
Porcelain veneers have played a huge role in offering minimally invasive options to improve the overall esthetics and meet patients’ esthetic demands. The ability to interpret the patient’s desired outcomes and visualize the finished case comes with experience. Equally important, however, are the materials chosen to rehabilitate dentition while staying as conservative as the case parameters will allow.
IPS e.max® Press
For over 20 years, the technique of pressing ceramics has been successfully used to create precision and highly esthetic outcomes in the fabrication of veneers, crowns, inlays, and onlays, as well as three-unit bridges.
The pressing technique allows for excellent fit and natural results, while the strength of the material (500 MPa) makes this one of the most prescribed dental restorations in the country.
The specific indications of use for e.max® linked are as follows:
E.max has a wide range of ingot colors and translucency levels from which to choose. This makes finding the right material to ensure the tooth restoration will blend seamlessly within the oral environment easy to achieve. There is virtually an ingot for every type of clinical situation.
The four levels of translucency include the following:
IPS e.max Press HT – The HT ingot has a high level of translucency and has the ability to adapt to the natural tooth structure. They work well for most thin veneers, and inlays/onlays.
IPS e.max Press MT – The MT ingot has a medium level of translucency. They work well when the restoration is completely monolithic, requiring only the staining technique or cutback technique for characterization.
IPS e.max Press LT – The LT ingot has a low level of translucency and is best used when fabricating larger restorations such as posterior crowns.
IPS e.max Press Ho – The HO ingots have a high opacity level and are ideal for use in frameworks to block highly discolored dies.
IPS e.max Press MO – The MO ingot has a medium opacity and works well when used for cases that may have a slightly discolored prepared tooth. They work well for veneers and crowns in both the anterior and posterior.
IPS e.max Press Multi – The Multi ingot has a color gradient built into the ingot from the dentin to the incisal edge. This ingot can be used for veneers, crowns as well as abutment crowns.
IPS e.max Press I – The Impulse ingot has an opalescent effect and is used for cases that have a lighter shade and need a more opalescent look
The decision to choose one ingot over another when working on a specific case lies mostly in the expertise of the laboratory. However, coming to the correct conclusion of which ingot to choose relies on the information being sent from the clinician. This will vary depending on the type of case being sent, but the following information will help ensure a successful ingot selection:
Patient concerns and goals
Proper shade selection
The shade of the prepared tooth/teeth
Clinical photos, including photos with the shade tabs in place
Case Study
The following case was sent to Burbank Dental Lab to assist this patient in reaching her esthetic goals. The patient’s chief complaints were her worn teeth, asymmetry, and retroclined anteriors.
She also wished to brighten up and create a more full smile. Tooth #11 had old porcelain fused to metal crown that was too opaque and causing some inflammation at the gingival area.
It was easy to determine that this case was an excellent option for e.max® layered restorations. The case was brought out facially to improve the retroclined anteriors. The buccal corridor was brought out to create a more full and esthetically pleasing overall smile. Tooth #11 was restored with a better fitting e.max® crown which improved the patient’s gingival tissue inflammation.
Highly esthetic when compared to other ceramic options
Several preparation methods
Cost-effective when compared to metal cast crowns
Vast shade, translucency, and opacity options
There are many factors that go into ensuring patient satisfaction. Ensuring that we understand their wants and are able to deliver is paramount to achieving high levels of patient satisfaction. Using the best materials is another critical factor in reaching successful cases.
IPS e.max Press has over 15 years of clinical studies showing the success of this material. It has a far superior clinical performance than both metal-ceramics and glass materials. Contact Burbank Dental Lab today for help with your next E.max case.
Burbank Dental Lab has three new state-of-the-art Carbon M2 printers. We are very excited about the options that these cutting-edge printers will allow us to offer our dental clients. Here are some of the advantages that these printers will begin to deliver to you and your dental practice.
Our New State-Of-The-Art 3d Printers
Carbon offers a highly dependable 3D manufacturing solution for many dental applications with its breakthrough Digital Light Synthesis™ technology, enabled by a wide range of dental materials.
a new baseline for innovation in fabrication.
Burbank Dental Lab has the next generation of Carbon DLS™. Meet our new Carbon M3 and M3 Max printers. These advanced printers enhance fabrication possibilities using Digital Light Synthesis™ technology, enabling us to provide quality and innovation for our clients.
Meet Our New next generation of carbon DLS™ M3 Max Printers
The M3 printer is the cutting edge of DLS printing with a true 4K light engine. We save time and improve quality with Automated Print Ppreparation which ensures high-quality assurance and results.
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