CAD/CAM Products

80% – 90% of Friendship’s products involve the use of CAD/CAM design software and/or milling machines. This drastically improves the consistency and quality by simply allowing less human hands to be physically involved in the crafting process. We mill SCULPTURE Full-Contour Zirconia crowns and bridges, Porcelain Fused to Zirconia (PFZ) copings and frameworks for PFZ crowns and bridges, wax try-ins, wax patterns, etc. Below are some of our more popular CAD/CAM Products.

 

1. SCULPTURE FULL-CONTOUR ZIRCONIA CROWNS & BRIDGES

Our SCULPTURE Full-Contour Zirconia restorations are ideal for posterior crowns, bridges, inlays and onlays however, a newer more translucent zirconia material is available for anterior crowns as well. This type of restoration is 8 x stronger than porcelain that is used to cover PFM copings.  SCULPTURE restorations are made from Crystal Diamond Zirconia, one of the most translucent zirconia materials, allowing up to 20-30% more light to pass through than any other zirconia materials on the market today! In the same way dentist prefer e.max crowns for anterior teeth for their life-like aesthetics and wear over time, dentists prefer SCULPTURE for their lower price-point and for their consistency and accuracy due to CAD/CAM technology. Based of of recent testimonials, our dentists prefer the shade and aesthetics our SCULPTURE products offer to other zirconia crowns like Glidewell’s BruxZir and other milled zirconia products.

While most dentists today offer Porcelain Fused To Metal (PFM) restorations for strength, which of course are covered by all insurance companies, they are not as strong as our SCULPTURE restorations. A downside of a PFM is that the metal substructure is non-transparent and is rather dark, having a tendency to appear dingy. Our guarantee is that our SCULPTURE products will not fracture, so we back them with with a 7-YEAR WARRANTY! We have crafted over 100,000 of these crowns and have not seen a single fracture.

Sculpture Hammer Test

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advantages:

  • Made with biocompatible medical-grade zirconia
  • Virtually chip resistant due to the use of monolithic material
  • High strength of 1,000 MPa
  • High translucency of 950 MPa
  • Precision marginal integrity
  • Superior fit due to the use of CAD/CAM technology
  • Less adjustments needed – this means minimal patient in-chair times and higher profits
  • No black lines or gingival graying
  • Glazed to a smooth surface to reduce plaque accumulation

Preparation:

  • Shoulder and Chamfer margins are recommended
  • Feather margins are used as long as there is no undercut or parallel axial walls which would require a slight taper in preparation
  • 1.0mm of occlusal space is preferred, but a prep with at least 0.7mm is acceptable
  • Conservation prep similar to a full gold

Cementation:

  • Resin reinforced glass ionomer cement

– RelyX Luting Cement, 3M ESPE; GCFuji Plus; GC America

  • Resin cements for short or over-tapered preparations

– RelyX Unicem, 3M ESPE; Panavia F2.0, Kuraray

Technical:

  • To adjust SCULPTURE restorations you must use water to keep the material cool
  • To avoid any microfractures use fine-grit diamond
  • For buccal and lingual surfaces use a tapered bur
  • Use a football-shaped bur for anterior occlusal and lingual surfaces

Step-By-Step Technical Laboratory Procedures:

Step1 – Milling
Zirconia units are milled from a puck of solid zirconia and then pre-stained to obtain the base shade prescribed by the doctor. Once the zirconia crown has its base shade, it is then put into a sintering furnace at a high temperature of 1530 Celsius

Step 2 – Sintering
The complete sintering process takes up to approximately 15 hours at a high temperature of 1530 Celsius. Our Dental Mill milling machines are running 24 hours a day. The SCULPTURE product is now ready for finalization

Step 3 – Preliminary Quality Control
Technicians check fit contacts, occlusion, and final contour of restoration as minimal adjustment may be needed based on doctors specific characteristic preferences

Step 4 – Stain and Glaze
After final characterization, each unit receives appropriate stain, then it glazed and sintered

Step 5 – Final Quality Control
Your case is now finished and is once again checked by the Quality Control department manager and/or owners to ensure shade and easy insertion

2. E.MAX LITHIUM DISILICATE CROWNS & BRIDGES

IPS e.max is the most Robust ceramic system tested to date.*  It delivers the ultimate in metal-free aesthetics and strength utilizing both pressable and CAD/CAM Technologies. E.max has become such a popular product, we have a separate e.max department called our Pressable Ceramic department with managers Robin Robinson, C.D.T. and Christian Nguyen. CLICK HERE for our Pressable Ceramic Department.

IPS E.MAX OFFERS:

  • Outstanding aesthetics
  • Adhesive or conventional cementation
  • Choice of high strength materials including zirconia and high strength lithium disilicate
  • Kind to opposing dentition
  • Press and CAD/CAM fabrication techniques optimizing both strength and fit
  • Single overlay ceramic delivering One Smile Chemistry

*Mouth Motion Fatigue and Durability Study

3. PORCELAIN FUSED TO ZIRCONIA (PFZ) CROWNS & BRIDGES