Crown & Bridge

Prescribe by span and by how hard the patient loads:

• 3Y (1200 MPa): single crowns anywhere in the arch, bridges of 4+ units, and heavy bruxers. Strongest, least translucent.
• 4Y (900 MPa): the everyday posterior single crown, and 3-unit bridges anywhere in the arch.
• 5Y (650 MPa) or e.max: the esthetic zone: anterior single crowns and veneers. 5Y also covers 3-unit anterior bridges through the premolar; e.max stays single-unit.

Not sure? Note the tooth number and opposing dentition on the slip and a technician will recommend a material before we start the case.

Both. We take scans from the major intraoral systems (see the Send a Scan page) and physical impressions, with courier pickup across the San Gabriel Valley and greater Los Angeles and shipping from everywhere else. Impressions enter the same design workflow as digital cases.

Yes, a scan is all we need to start, and we print a model when the case calls for one. On request we also run a model-free workflow: the restoration is designed and finished without a printed model, at a discount. Model-free is available for single-unit crowns, small-span bridges, and single-unit implant crowns; we don’t recommend it for other case types, and a model-free crown may still need minor chairside adjustment at delivery.

Zirconia needs the least; PFM the most:

• Zirconia: 0.6–0.8 mm minimum for 3Y; 1.0–1.5 mm ideal where space allows.
• e.max crowns: 1.5 mm incisal/occlusal and 1.2–1.5 mm axial. A minimally invasive e.max crown can go to 1.0 mm circumferential when it is adhesively bonded.
• e.max veneers: 0.6 mm facial, or 0.3 mm for pressed thin veneers.
• PFM: 1.5–2.0 mm on functional cusps wherever porcelain covers the occlusal.
• Full-cast & full gold: 1.5 mm on functional cusps and 1.0 mm on nonfunctional, with a 0.5 mm chamfer: the most conservative full-coverage preparation.

The Selection Guide on the Crown & Bridge page lists every material side by side; some clinical situations call for more.

VITA Classical and VITA 3D-Master are our working systems, and either is preferred. Any other shade guide works too: name the guide on the slip and we convert it. For e.max and 5Y zirconia, include the stump shade as well; both materials are translucent enough that the underlying preparation shows through and changes how we build the shade.

A shade photo helps on any esthetic case. What makes one useful:

• Two or three shade tabs in frame: the closest match plus a neighbor on either side, held edge-to-edge in the same plane as the tooth with the labels readable. Bracketing tells the ceramist far more than a single tab.
• Taken before dehydration: shoot at the start of the appointment; isolated teeth dry out within minutes and photograph whiter than they are.
• Phone camera: flash off, no zoom, no filters or beauty mode. Tap the tooth to focus, then drag the exposure slider down slightly so the enamel isn’t blown out. Daylight or a neutral (about 5500 K) light source beats the overhead operatory light.
• Dedicated camera: ISO 100–200, white balance 5500 K (the flash preset), shutter 1/125–1/200 with flash, and f/16–f/22 for depth of field.
• Cross-polarization (optional): a polarizing filter removes surface glare and reveals the underlying shade and characterization; a nice upgrade, but not required. Plain, slightly underexposed photos work.

Send photos with the case through your scanner portal, or call the lab and we’ll set up the right channel.

These are general guidelines. We recommend checking your cement manufacturer’s instructions, and following them wherever they differ.

Zirconia (3Y, 4Y, 5Y): two valid paths, chosen by the prep.

• Retentive prep: conventional cementation with resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI). No etching, priming, or bonding steps.
• Short or over-tapered prep: bond it. Clean the intaglio after try-in (Ivoclean or 5% NaOCl, not phosphoric acid), air-abrade with 30–50 µm alumina, apply an MDP-containing primer, and seat with a dual-cure resin cement; the crown blocks the curing light, so the cement must also cure chemically.
• Never HF-etch zirconia: it has no glass phase to etch.

e.max (lithium disilicate): adhesive bonding is the default.

• Veneers & minimally invasive crowns: must be bonded. Etch with 5% HF for 20 seconds, apply silane (or a one-bottle etch-and-prime), and seat veneers with a light-cure resin cement, the most color-stable under thin ceramic.
• Full-coverage crowns: same etch-and-silane protocol with a dual-cure resin cement; a retentive prep can instead take a self-adhesive dual-cure resin cement with no separate etch step.

PFM, full-cast & full gold: conventional cementation with RMGI or conventional glass ionomer. No bonding protocol needed.

Yes. Use a fine-grit diamond with water spray and light pressure, then repolish with a zirconia polishing kit; a well-polished surface is what keeps zirconia kind to the opposing dentition, and the literature finds polished zirconia less abrasive than glazed. If an adjustment is larger than a polish can recover, send the restoration back and we re-glaze it on request.

• Prep and opposing: a scan or impression of the prepared arch, plus the opposing arch.
• Bite registration: covering at least the prepared quadrant, in occlusion.
• Tooth number, material, and shade: on the slip, with the opposing dentition noted; add the stump shade on e.max and 5Y cases (see “How should I communicate shade?”).
• Margins: if any part of the margin is uncertain in the scan or impression, mark it or note it on the slip.

If anything we need is missing (margin, shade, or opposing), we call the office before we start the case.

Before we start it. If the prescribed material doesn’t fit the case in front of us (a 5Y crown on a heavy bruxer, e.max where the prep can’t give it room, a span too long for the zirconia grade), a technician calls with the reason and the alternative before anything is milled or pressed. Note the opposing dentition on the slip and we’ll catch it at design.

Two years against defects in materials and workmanship, from the delivery date, when the restoration is fabricated to your specifications. The remedy is repair or replacement at our discretion. Full terms are published on the Crown & Bridge page, next to the turnaround table.