In biomedical field, for the prosthetic restorations, the material considered more performant for its characteristics is zirconium oxide (ZrO2) - commonly called ZIRCONIA - which is an metal-free ceramic oxide, not to be confused with the zirconium (Zr) that is a metal instead. The zirconium oxide ZrO2 is obtained from the…

Use of Zirconia (ZrO2) in medicine dates to 1969, when this material was adopted for the manufacture of hip prosthetics. As an alternative to titanium, steel or alumina, the new material guaranteed better resistance to breakage and corrosion, as well as a high degree of biocompatibility, confirmed by the fact…

Many factors influence the final result of the prostheses made in Zirconia.  Zirconia blocks on the market, even though they are chemically similar to each other, once processed may have very different mechanical and optical characteristics. In order to achieve a constant quality level, the manufacturing process of these materials…

    Pressing is one of the basic parameters which influences the final quality of the product, since it determines density, an extremely important aspect for clinical behaviour.   In order to ensure the product has sufficient cohesion for processing requirements, the ceramic granulate is loaded into a mould and…

After pressing, the green (unsintered) products may be shaped or processed with CNC machines such as lathes, milling machines and grinding machines. Subsequent thermal treatment – pre-sintering – reduces the porosity and volume of the product.  Pre-sintering is a delicate process.  It determines the processing characteristics of the product (e.g.…

Each production phase includes controls aimed at guaranteeing the final product specifications (dimensions, dimensional tolerances, shrinkage of ceramic materials after sintering, controls on completeness of the products). The individual phases are managed by operators in auto-control and, in any case, always with the supervision of the quality department staff.  Final…

Radioactivity is a natural phenomenon.  There are natural radioactive impurities in Zirconium which may be eliminated using modern purification processes.  Once the impurities have been removed, Zirconia is considered to be a safe material. It is obviously important for the purification process which eliminates the radioactive impurities present to take…