Metal free restorations

Metal free restorations have been getting widespread for not a long time. Dentists and patients were always looking for materials that fulfil every possible requirement set up by the health-conscious people of our days.

Metal free restorations have to provide the feeling of comfort, so that the patients can forget about their restoration; they have to be safe, because who wants to smile and eat thinking ‘I hope my denture won’t fall out’; the restoration has to be long lasting so the patient does not have to go to the doctor for years or decades; dentures and other restorations have to be bio-compatible; and they have to be good looking. Metal free restorations meet all these requirements, and though they are of the highest quality nowadays available, they don’t cost significantly more than metal restorations. And it takes less time to do a metal free restoration than a metallic restoration. Reading all the information above you may ask are metal restorations still in use?

Why would anyone choose to have a crown, bridge, etc. made from different metals (gold, silver, titanium and various alloys), if there are other, better solutions: different types of metal free restorations? Well, in fact pure metallic restorations are mostly out of fashion, and they are used only in special cases: titanium for example is bio-compatible and very resistant, so sometimes it is advised to have a restoration made of this metal. If we don’t focus on pure metal restorations, another metal based technique is the so called “porcelain fused to metal restoration”. Though it is –of course– not metal free, it is popular, because it’s strong, durable and resistant. In fact it has better attributes than a pure porcelain restoration.

Zirconia: but the latest step towards full porcelain restoration is the use of zirconium-oxide. Though as you can see, it is made of zirconium, a soft, malleable metal, zirconium-oxide, the oxidized form of zirconium is a white crystalline oxide of the metal, and has nothing to do with the original substance. Zirconia is one of the most studied ceramics, so its use is completely safe, and we know everything about it to recommend the use of this material. Zirconia is also one of the hardest ceramics, it can be used to replace diamond, and with special techniques bridges, crowns, etc. made from the material can be coloured to any colour we want. Zirconia fulfils all requirements established by modern demands. Need more information? If you come to Lánchíd dentistry, our doctors are going to give you every detail you may need, and you will be able to ask them as many questions as you want, about every aspect of metal free and metal restorations.