Emax crowns can be quickly and conveniently prepared inside the dental office. Your dentist will first prepare your teeth by removing a thin layer of the natural tooth structure.
Next, a digital impression of your teeth will be made with the help of an intraoral camera. You don’t need a messy impression with a paste here. This impression is then transmitted into the computer that controls the milling procedure.
Your dentist matches the shade of the crown with your natural teeth.
Finally, the milling machine cuts the monolithic block of Lithium disilicate to produce the required shape of the prosthesis. That is why we call it a monolithic crown. As the crown is made out of a single block, it stands really strong.
Then, your dentist adjusts the crown to your tooth, makes any fine adjustments if needed and glues it on to your tooth.
This means you get a crown on the same appointment. No waiting period, no multiple appointments, and no need of a temporary crown.
What are the Benefits of the Emax System?
Emax system based prostheses possess several advantages, which make them ideal for fabrication of fixed prostheses in the anterior region:
Best Match to your Natural Teeth – an important esthetic requirement for all-ceramic prostheses is that they should possess sufficient translucency that matches your natural teeth. Emax crowns possess an ideal blend of translucency and lifelike appearance, that makes them suitable for restoration of front teeth. They are more translucent than zirconia crowns!
All-ceramic Prostheses – Emax based prostheses do not contain any metal alloy beneath the porcelain. This means that a unsightly grey line of the underlying metal will not be visible at the gumlines, and the crowns will look just like your natural teeth.
Durability – Emax crowns are prepared from lithium disilicate, which is a glass ceramic and possesses excellent strength. Thus, Emax crowns are less likely to crack or fracture during clinical usage. They are less likely to chip when compared to zirconia crowns!
Ability to be Milled – another benefit of Emax crowns is that they can be quickly fabricated by using CAD CAM milling. Emax crowns are prepared from a high quality monolithic block of Lithium disilicate. All the dentist needs to do, is to prepare the teeth, make a digital impression and feed It into the CAD-CAM machine software, and voila! Emax crowns are ready for cementation!
Conservation of Tooth Structure – since Emax crowns possess excellent strength and fracture resistance, these crowns can be prepared in very thin sections. This not only ensures optimal esthetics, but also requires minimal removal of natural tooth structure during preparation. The more the tooth structure you have, better is your oral health. When you have more tooth structure, your tooth stands stronger.
Multiple Options for Teeth Restoration – the best thing about the Emax system is that it is not limited to all-ceramic crowns only. Rather, this system can also be used to fabricate veneers, inlays, onlays, overlays, and even short-span bridges to replace front teeth.
Disadvantages of Emax crown
High price – superior looks of Emax come at a higher price.
Not ideal for posterior/ back teeth – though rare, Emax crowns may fracture when we try to fit them on your occlusal / biting surfaces. This is because they are thin. However, Emax crowns are more suitable for front teeth as we don’t use them for hard biting. If you want to use Emax for posterior teeth because of looks, we need to trim your teeth more so that Emax gets enough thickness to seat. The strength of your crown always depends on the thickness. Thicker the crown, better it withstands the biting forces.
May not suit darker teeth – as Emax is more translucent than zirconia, they look more natural than zirconia. However, if your natural tooth is on the darker side, zirconia suits you more.
Suitable only for smaller bridges – Emax is suitable for replacing only a single tooth. It may not withstand forces for replacing more than one tooth.
