3M ESPE is introducing new enhancements to the Lava™ System, including Lava™ Wax Knife Software 2.0 and new Bleach shades and esthetically enhanced Enamel shades of Lava™ Ceram Veneering Material, delivering improved design and esthetic options to help dentists and dental labs manage restorative challenges.
The new Lava wax knife software 2.0 allows technicians more freedom to customize and modify copings, including the ability to add proper structural support to the Lava Ceram veneering material through virtual build-ups or reductions to the zirconia framework prior to milling. This software enhancement will be especially useful for short preparations and restorations requiring interproximal and incisal augmentation.
"This new software upgrade gives technicians more freedom when they're designing Lava Crowns and Bridges," said Jim Buchanan, Marketing and Sales Manager of Laboratory Products, 3M ESPE. "With the ability to perform build-ups, they're essentially able to offer an even stronger restoration by adding additional support for porcelain in areas of need."
The porcelain, or Lava Ceram, now features four esthetically-enhanced enamel shades, and three new bleach shade formulations (W1, W2 and W3). Producing high-strength, reliable restorations with excellent esthetics and outstanding marginal fit, Lava™ crowns and bridges from 3M ESPE can be utilized for a wide range of crown and bridge applications for most anterior and posterior prosthetic requirements. The Lava system produces restorations that are fracture resistant and considered inert with respect to biocompatibility, providing one of the most durable all-ceramic restorations available today.
At the heart of the Lava system is a framework that consists of zirconia supplemented by a custom veneering ceramic. To develop this framework, the Lava system employs four steps: scanning, computer-aided framework design, milling of pre-sintered zirconia blanks, and sintering in a special high-temperature furnace.
The high strength and natural esthetics of the framework mean that as compared to many other all-ceramic systems, less tooth structure is removed during clinical preparation and cementation can be accomplished using proven, conventional techniques, such as those utilized with PFM materials. Available in eight different shades, the zirconia frameworks are thin and translucent, helping ensure a natural tooth appearance. The end result is a restoration ideal for crowns, splinted crowns, and three- and four-unit bridge applications that offer strength and stability, in addition to outstanding marginal fit and esthetics.
"With Lava™ crowns and bridges, we're helping laboratories offer dentists and their patients a restoration that is strong and reliable, that meets esthetic requirements, and because it utilizes CAD/CAM technology, provides consistent manufacturing results and precise fit," continued Buchanan. "At the same time, by making the system compatible with traditional preparation and cementation techniques, dentists can easily integrate this innovative technology without changing the way they perform crown and bridge procedures."
Cementation of Lava crowns and bridges can be accomplished with proven self-adhesive universal resin cement Rely X Unicem or with conventional techniques using the following recommended cements from 3M ESPE: Rely X Luting Plus Cement, Rely X Luting Cement and KetacCem glass ionomer cement. For a list of Authorized Lava™ Milling Centers, visit www.3MESPE.com/labproducts.
