10801 West 87th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

ADVANCING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF COSMETIC AND IMPLANT DENTISTRY

The CerconR Smile

The 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:

 

Cercon Art
Fig. 1: Cercon Art
The Cercon Art CAD module allows the technician to design crown and bridge frameworks in virtual 3D. 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.

 

Laser Scanner
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 outsource center for milling zirconia or wax/resin forms.

 

 Cercon Brain (1)
Cercon Brain (2)
Fig. 3: Cercon Brain Milling
Supreme intelligence and a fast bur:
Cercon brain. The scanning and milling unit Cercon brain is filled to the brim with programming expertise, such as non-contact scanning of the wax model, generation of the corresponding data record, milling of the zirconium oxide blank (Cercon base) and at the end, the finished crown or bridge framework. You initiate these fascinating events with just a few keystrokes. The exact linear shrinkage, which will take place in the sintering furnace, is compensated for during the milling phase. During milling, the still unsintered objects undergo precisely pre-calculated over-extension.

 

Cercon Heat
Fig. 4: Cercon Heat
First it’s chalky, then it’s hot, then it’s hard. 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 four-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

 

CerconR Base Zirconia Blanks

Fig 1: Cercon® Base Zirconia Blanks

Cercon Wax Model

Fig 2: Cercon Wax Model

Sintered Framework

Fig 3: Sintered Framework

Sintered Veneered Bridge

Fig 4: Sintered 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 aesthetic practitioner eight more shade choices (i1- i8).

 

Shade Selection

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

Please contact Reconstructive and Implant Dental Center at 913-534-8801 today to learn more about Cercon crowns in Overland Park, Kansas, and book a consultation with our prosthodontist, Dr. EDward M. Amet.