HOW ARE ZIRCONIA CROWNS PREPARED?

We prepare zirconia crowns by milling the full-contour zirconia blocks on cad cam devices or by veneering a porcelain layer to the front surface of the solid zirconia base to improve their aesthetic qualities. Also, multi-layered full-contour zirconia blocks provide excellent aesthetics that are almost as natural as a natural tooth. Both full-contour zirconia and porcelain-veneered zirconia crowns have highly aesthetic results. However, porcelain-veneered zirconia crowns are slightly less durable than full-contour zirconia crowns because they carry an additional layer which is bonded to them.

Unlike full porcelain crowns and PFM crowns, zirconia crowns can only be prepared by certain types of 3D milling devices. Most of the clinics use external labs for the preparation of these crowns. Therefore, it is hard for these clinics to collaborate with dental technicians during the design of the end product. In Europe Dental Clinics Turkey, our expert dentists and dental technicians collaborate during the design and milling stage of zirconia crowns in our in-house dental laboratory.

HOW LONG DO I NEED TO STAY IN TURKEY FOR ZIRCONIA CROWNS?

In Europe Dental Clinics Turkey, we complete a full smile makeover (8 upper jaws and 8 lower jaws) made with Porcelain Fused to Zirconia Crowns within only 4 days. We ask our patients to stay for an extra day for control appointments before travelling back to their country. Therefore, 5 full days in total are required for Porcelain Fused to Zirconia Smile Makeover in our clinic. Depending on the teeth numbers included in the treatment plan, treatment can take 1 day shorter or longer than this.

WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR?

Porcelain Fused Zirconia Crowns are our gold standard for a smile makeover and aesthetic cases. PFZ Crowns can be used for;

• Mild to moderate teeth crowding in front teeth. If teeth are healthy and have good shape, orthodontic treatment should be considered first.
• Smile makeover cases.
• Teeth with large and deep caries.
• Teeth which were restored heavily in past.
• Chipped Teeth.
• Diastema closure (Gaps between teeth).

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ZIRCONIA CROWNS?

Advantages of Porcelain Fused to Zirconia Crowns:

• Provides excellent aesthetics. Our technicians use multiple layers on top of the zirconia base to achieve highly aesthetic and natural results.
• Stronger than laminate veneers. Can be used in short partially edentulous (without teeth) areas as bridges to replace missing teeth.
• Can be used to fix mild to moderate crowding of teeth.
• Provides good support to highly damaged teeth.

Disadvantages of Porcelain Fused to Zirconia Crowns:

• Requires extra tooth tissue removal all around the visible part of a tooth.
• Non-reversible procedure.
• Teeth may require root canal treatment, especially during the correction of moderate teeth crowding.

WHAT ARE THE TREATMENT STAGES OF THE ZIRCONIA CROWNS PROCEDURE?

In Europe Dental Clinics Turkey, we complete full-contour zirconia crowns in only 3 days and porcelain veneered crowns in 4 days. However, we recommend our patients stay for an extra night which is included in the quotation for the last check. We explained the appointments below in detail.

1- First Appointment: Tooth Preparation and Impression Taking

Before starting the tooth preparation, our dentists apply a local anaesthetic area to prevent any pain or discomfort. After the numbness is achieved in 5 to 10 minutes, our dentists start reducing the tooth surfaces. Our dentists take extra care during this procedure to prevent any tooth pulp damage caused by over-reduction or over-heating. This procedure takes around 5 to 10 minutes for each tooth.

When our dentists complete the teeth preparation stage, they take an impression of your teeth with silicone-based impression materials. After that, we transfer your impressions to our in-house dental laboratory.

Once this stage is completed, our team will drop you back at your hotel to sleep the treatment off.

2- 3D Designing & Temporary Crowns

Temporary crowns are plastic prototypes of your permanent zirconia crowns. After tooth preparation, your teeth are very likely to be sensitive. Therefore, we get the temporary crowns ready on the same evening as the first appointment.

Once the lab receives the impression of your teeth, the digital scanning stage begins. This stage allows us to transfer the actual model of your prepared teeth to the digital environment. The scanning stage is followed by the 3D design of your temporary teeth on a computer. Our dentists and dental technicians collaborate during the design stage to manufacture the temporary crowns in a way that they will be highly aesthetic and in perfect harmony with your intact teeth. Our patients are welcome to join this stage to bring up their special requests about their teeth.

3- Second Appointment: Mock-Up Stage

In the evening of the first visit, the dentist cements the temporary crowns to your teeth. Temporary crowns give us an idea of how the end-work zirconia crowns will look on your teeth. This stage is very beneficial since it enables us to assess the temporary crowns look and make necessary adjustments as desired by our patients. Once we achieve the desired look, it is transferred to the permanent zirconia crown design.

4- Third Appointment: Trial of The Zirconia Base

In this appointment, we remove the temporary crowns to assess the fitting zirconia base to your teeth. We examine any possible premature contacts and make any other necessary adjustments on the permanent zirconia base. This procedure usually takes around 15 to 45 minutes. After that, our dentists re-cement the temporary crowns and send the zirconia base to our in-house dental laboratory. We bypass this stage when we are manufacturing full-contour zirconia crowns.

5- Fourth Appointment: Permanent Cementation of Zirconia Crowns

Our expert dental technicians apply a porcelain layer on top of the zirconia base to improve the aesthetics. Once this is complete in the lab, we place your dental crowns on your teeth without cementing them. We assess their fit and look for the last time so we can make any adjustments before the permanent crown cementation.

After the cementation, we check once more for premature contact as patients feel better after the permanent cementation.

6- Fifth Appointment: Last Control

We advise our patients to stay for an extra night so that we can make any extra adjustments when necessary.

HOW MUCH DO ZIRCONIA CROWNS COST IN TURKEY?

A single Porcelain Fused to zirconia crown costs €215 in Europe Dental Clinics Turkey. We provide free 5-star accommodation and VIP car transfers for smile makeover packages.

Single jaw Porcelain Fused to Zirconia Smile Makeover Package in Turkey:

8 upper jaw PFZ Crown costs €1.720 including 5-star hotel and VIP transfers.

Full Smile Makeover with Porcelain Fused to Zirconia Crowns in Turkey:

8 upper jaw and 8 lower jaw Porcelain Fused to Zirconia crowns cost €3.440 including 5-star hotel and VIP transfers.

CAN I HAVE ZIRCONIA CROWNS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?

Tooth preparation for zirconia crowns is an aerosol-producing procedure. The handpiece that dentists use during the tooth preparation sprays water to prevent overheating of the tooth. Covid-19 can spread with aerosols and therefore zirconia crowns procedure is considered a risky procedure.

We’ve been adapting to the new normal. From the 1st of June 2020, we have started all our dental care procedures and VIP services. We take extra care to prevent the spread of coronavirus as follows.

• All our rooms are cleaned with disinfectants.
• We measure our patients’ temperature before they get into our clinic.
• Excluding children and handicapped patients, companions are not allowed the inside the clinic.