dlpmagazine.com September 2010 dentallabproducts 39

bench Masterybench Mastery

dlpmagazine.com38 dentallabproducts September 2010

an alloy alternativeTitanium’s versatility is matched by its strength and biocompatibility.

By Jamie Stover, Lab Manager, Ziemek Dental Lab, Olympia, Wash.

Fig.AScanningthediewiththeNobelProcera. Fig.BDesigningthetitaniumcoping. Fig.CThemilledtitaniumcopingisreceivedinaslittleas2days.

Fig.DThefitandmarginsarechecked. Fig.EGrindingthecopingtocreateretentivesurfacetexture.

Fig.FBlastingwithAlO2toenhanceadhesion.

Fig.GApplyingGCInitialTibonder. Fig.HThecopingisdarkafterfiringthebonder. Fig.IGCInitialopaquemodifiermaterial.

Fig.JApplyingopaqueandopaquemodifiers.

Fig.KBuildingtheporcelain.

Fig.LContouringthecrown.

Fig.MAddingstainforany

desiredcharacterization.

Fig.NThefinalporcelain-fused-to-titaniumcrown.

As laboratory technicians,weareconstantlymade

awareofnewproductsandmaterials,andaresubjected

tomuchofthesamemarketingasdentists.However,we

areintheuniquepositionofhavingtofulfillourdentists’

requeststoimplementthesenewmaterialsanddiscern

whatishypeandwhatworkswell.Atthesametime,

nowmorethanever,weareunderincreasingpressure

tokeepcostsdown.

Addtothisthetumultuousgoldmarkettoday,and

it’snowonderthatwefearourbottomlineshrinking.

Offeringalower-costnoblealloyasanalternative

tomoreexpensivehigh-noblealloysforPFMsisan

importantoption,butstillleavesthealloycostper

crowninconsistent.

enter titaniuMTitaniumislightweight,extremelystrongandverybio-

compatible.AlthoughIwouldn’tcategorizetitaniumas

a“newmaterial,”itisnowmoreattainableandeasierto

useasacrownandbridgealloy.Inthepast,usingtitanium

inPFMswasnotaneasyfeat,asanyonewhohasever

triedtocastitwillattest.Titaniumgivesyoutheabilityto

changetheworkflowinyourlabbyallowingtheCAD/CAM

fabricationofsinglecopingsandbridgeframeworksas

opposedtotraditionalwaxingandcasting.

Additionally,itgivesyouafixedalloycostperunit,

whichallowsyoueithertochargeafixedpriceforthealloy

percrownorstructurepricingtoincludethealloyinthe

priceofthecrown,regardlessofitssize.Labschoosing

nottoinvestinascannerandsoftwarecanstillusetita-

niumandreapsimilarbenefitsbysimplypartneringwith

anotherlabandoutsourcingthescananddesignsteps.

Althoughwiththespeedthattechnologyistransforming

ourindustry,it’sbecomingdifficulttoimagineanylab

withoutsometypeofscanningability.

Withtitanium,youpayafixedpricepermilledcoping

orponticregardlessofthesizeorweight.Theactualprice

alabpayspercopingwilldifferdependingonhowyou

acquireyourtitaniumframes,aslabsthatcanscan/design

theirownunderstructureswillmostlikelypaylessperunit

thantheonesthatchoosetooutsourcethesesteps.

Aswithzirconia,therearedifferentgradesoftitanium

availabletodayofvaryingquality,makingitimportantto

seekoutareliablesource.Forthisarticle,Iwillonlydiscuss

thematerialsIusetoproducetitaniumPFMsatZiemek

handling titaniuM handling titaniuM

about the authorJamie stoveris ManagerofZiemekDen-

talLab(ziemekdentallab.com),ahigh-qual-

ityfixedrestorativelablocatedinOlympia,

Wash.Hisfocusisusinghisexperience

atthebenchasatechnicianalongwith

newtechnologyandmaterialstoprovide

dentistswithhighlyestheticrestorations,

whilekeepingthemonthecutting-edgeof

dentaltechnology.Hecanbereachedby

calling360-943-6071orbye-mailinginfo@

ziemekdentallab.com.

DentalLab.WeusetitaniumalloyfromNobelBiocare,whichis

ahigh-qualityGrade5titanium,andIstackthemwithGCInitial

TiporcelainfromGCAmerica.Wehavebeenextremelyhappy

withbothofthesecompaniesfortheirexcellentproductsand

outstandingsupportandcustomerservice.Specialthanksto

RickSonntagofGCforallhishelpwhileIwasgettingoffthe

groundwithTi.

basic rulesIhearquiteabitabouthowdifficultitistointegratetitanium

intoalab,andhowtrickyitcanbetoworkwith.Incidentally,I

hearthismostlyfromlabsthathaveneverstackedatitanium

crown,andIhaven’tfoundthistobethecase.Thereareafew

basicrulesthatIfollowwhenworkingwithtitanium.

Ialwaysuseadedicatedcarbideburformetalfinishing

toavoidcrosscontaminationofourotheralloys,whichisno

differentintheorythanworkingwithnon-preciousalloysfor

MarylandBridges,etc.Iwouldrecommenddedicatingawork

stationexclusivelyforit;however,Ihaven’tneededtodothis

asofyet.Ijustkeepmyworkareaclean,useadedicatedbur,

anddon’thaveanyissueswithcrosscontamination.

Titaniumbuildsanoxidelayerbysittingatroomtempera-

tureforaboutfiveminutes,soyoudon’tfireitinanovento

degas.Thisisabonusinmyopinion,asfiveminutessittingat

roomtemperaturewhileIdosomethingelseisaquick,easy

degascycle.

Beforeyouopaqueyourcoping,you’llneedtoblastitwith

125-micronaluminumoxidetoreallyroughenupthesurface

textureandalsoapplyabonderlayer;again,notabigdeal.After

firingthebonder,thealloyisabitdarkergraythanournobleand

high-noblealloys,soIuseableachshadeformyfirstopaque

application.Ialsorecommendthatourdentistscutaporcelain

marginpreptoavoidanydarklineatthegingival.

Otherthanthesedifferences,Istackitjustlikeanyother

alloyweuseandhavebeensatisfiedwiththeoutcome.Iwould

followtheinstructionsprovidedwiththeporcelainkityou

choosetoworkwith.IonlyuseGCporcelainforourtitanium

PFMs,andsubtledifferencesmayexist.

building the PFt crown

01 WeuseourNobelProcerascannertoscanthemodel

(Fig. A)anddesignthecopings(Fig. B).

02 Twotothreedaysaftersubmittingthedesignedfile,

wereceivethemilledtitaniumcopingfromNobel(Fig.

C).Becausethecopingismilled,thethicknessissetat0.4mm

andrequiresminimalfinishing.

03 Afterthespruesareremoved,thefitischeckedand

themarginsarecarefullyfinished(Fig. D).

04 Thespruesarefinisheddownusingacarbidebur,and

contourisrefinedifneeded.Igoovertheentirecoping

tocreateamore-retentivesurfacetexture(Fig. E).Again,special

careistakentouseadedicatedbursothereisnocontamination

amongstourdifferentcopings/alloys.

05 Thecopingisblastedwith125-micronaluminumoxide

ata45°angletopreparethesurfaceformaximum

adhesion(Fig. F).

06 Thecopingissteamcleanedandallowedtositatroom

temperatureforfiveminutestobuildanoxidelayer.

07 IapplyathinlayeroftheInitialTiBonderandfireit(Fig.

G).Afterthebonderisfired,thecopingisquitedark

(Fig. H).Inullifythisbyapplyingableachwhiteopaqueshade

formyfirstopaquelayer,anddoaporcelainmarginwhenever

possibletoavoidagraylineatthegingival.

08 Iapplymysubsequentopaqueandopaquemodifiers

inthedesiredshade(Figs. I and J).

09 IdomybuildupsasusualwithGC’sInitialTiporcelain

(Fig. K).

10 Icontourthecrown(Fig. L),glazeandaddstainforany

desiredcharacterization(Fig. M).

Thefinishedcrownisreadytodeliver(Fig. N).

Manydentistsandlaboratorytechniciansalikearealready

veryfamiliarandcomfortablewithtitaniumwhenusedfor

customimplantabutments,bars,posts,etc.Timewilltellif

thisalloyachievesthesamepopularityforcrownandbridge

applications.Inthemeantime,labsshouldexperimentwithitand

decideiftitaniumcanimprovetheirworkflowandbebeneficial

totheallimportantbottomline.Iamheretosayitcandoboth,

andalsoissurprisinglyeasytoworkwith. lab