The Cercon® Smile

Cercon® CAM system and a Cercon® Smile!

The Cercon® Smart Ceramics system from Dentsply Ceramco has brought the ability to place reliable metal-free restorations with ease and confidence to thousands of practitioners. Since its launch in 2002, about 100 systems have been placed in North America, and over 40,000 units have been placed.  In this overview is an explanation for practitioners and patients looking to understand the Cercon® system and restorations.

The CERCON · System Overview:

Fig. 1: Cercon Art

The Cercon Art CAD module allows the technician to design crown and bridge frameworks in virtual 3-D. The system utilizes a unique instrument, Cercon Move, which is a 3D navigation tool providing an easy way to visualize all the dimensions of the design on-screen.  The software has been designed to follow systematically the working stages normally completed by a technician in wax, thus enabling the dental technician to work intuitively with the software.  Fast creation of precision models is almost self-explanatory with this instinctive software. Clear logical menus allow anyone to create anatomical copings as if by hand. Preparation margins are localized and suggested automatically, but the technician still has full control over the design to match individual needs. The design software also provides for“nesting”  of multiple units into one block of Cercon base material which increases productivity and minimizes waste in the material.  Once the design phase is complete, the file can be sent to the Cercon Brain for milling or to an off-site milling location.  Cercon CAD truly simplifies crown and bridge design.

Fig. 2: Cercon Eye "Laser Scanner"

The Cercon Eye equipped with a laser and three cameras, the Cercon Eye optical unit scans single dies, full-arch models, or wax copings on a large scan platform that can digitally map out up to 16 units at one time.  With a scan time of less than 20 seconds per unit and a scanning precision of 10 microns or less, it is capable of reading difficult geometries such as undercuts.  The scanner integrates with the CerconArt Cad software module for the design of copings, bridge frameworks or implants abutments to be milled in zirconia on the Cercon Brain milling unit.  The scanner can work individually or networked in-house, or design data can be sent to Dentsplys Compartis USA centralized outsorce center for milling zirconia or wax/resin forms.

Fig. 4: Cercon Heat

First it’s chalky, then it’s hot, then it’s hard.

Cercon heat. Cercon brain’s intelligence pays off when it enters the hot phase. At 1350°C, the single crown coping or bridge framework reaches its optimal strength in the Cercon heat furnace. Processed in a chalky-soft state, then just sintered hard – that is the secret of the “all-ceramic aesthetics” of zirconium oxide-TZP (“tetragonal zirconia polycrystals”).

Cercon® CAM system and a Cercon® Smile! 

Cercon® is an innovative computer aided manufacturing (CAM) system, designed to accommodate up to 80% of routine crown and bridge case work. The system was designed to provide a reliable zirconia-based alternative to PFMs, for single units and bridges up to 38mm in span. This translates into a 4-unit molar bridge, or even a six-unit bridge for smaller lower anterior cases. The system’s capabilities have been verified in over four years of successful clinical study so far.

Process:

  Cercon® base zirconia blanks, Wax Model, Sintered Framework, and Veneered Bridge

      Shade Selection:

Cercon® restorations can be placed as an alternative to most cases where a PFM would be diagnosed. Cercon® restorations can be created in shades keyed to the Vita® Lumin Classic shade guide (shades A1-D4). Bleached restorations keyed to the Illuminé Shade Guide (Dentsply Ceramco) offer the esthetic practioner eight more shade choices (i1- i8).

 
Fig 1.  Cercon Preparations Using Rubber Dam
 Fig 2.  Master Cast Impressions
Fig 3.  Completed All Ceramic Restorations
Fig 4.  Follow-Up Visit for Crown Color and Tissue Evaluation

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