Espertise
™
Scientific Facts
3M ESPE Lava Plus High Translucency Zirconia:
Translucent and Strong
™
™
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Lava™ Plus High Translucency Zirconia is the next generation of Lava™
Frame Zirconia that has proven its reliability in more than 10 years of
clinical history. The Lava™ Plus System is designed to enable unprece­
dented Lava™ Zirconia esthetics with uncompromised strength.
a) Lava™ Plus High Translucency Zirconia
Esthetics is determined by the viewing light, the observer and finally
the optical properties of the restoration: Restorations reflect, scatter
or absorb part of the viewing light while the remainder is transmitted.
Theses optical properties depend on the surface texture, the chemical
composition and the microstructure of the materials used. Simplified
one can say that the potential of a restoration material to mimic tooth
structure is determined by its color and translucency.
Lava™ Plus is a complete zirconia restoration system offering a high
translucency combined with a unique shading solution for full color control.
This sheet focuses on the science behind the improved translucency
of the Lava™ Plus material.
b) No name zirconia – highlighted impurity and pore
What is behind the excellent translucency of
Lava™ Plus restorations?
Translucency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through
a material. The translucency of zirconia materials is mainly determined
by
• Presence of impurities and structural defects
• Alumina content and distribution
Impurities lead to light absorption and structural defects like pores
to scattering. Both factors reduce the translucency. The high quality
processing of Lava™ Zirconia minimizes these effects (Fig. 1 a).
This is very much in contrast to what was found for some low quality
materials (Fig. 1 b).
Alumina is a dopand with many useful effects including increased aging
stability of zirconia. However, Alumina has a different refractive index
and can segregate in the zirconia material (Fig. 1 c) which decreases
translucency by scattering. Some zirconias do not contain Alumina to
enhance translucency. To fully maintain the aging stability a different
approach was chosen for Lava™ Plus Zirconia: The Alumina content is
reduced to 0.1 wt%. At the same time the Alumina distribution was
improved to fully maintain the aging stability on Lava™ Zirconia level. 1, 2
c) Branded competitive zirconia –
highlighted segregated Alumina grains
Fig. 1: SEM images (3M ESPE internal data)
35
30
1-CR (%)
25
glass ceramics were found more translucent, however at a fraction of
the flexural strength of zirconia (Fig. 4).
1800
1600
Biaxial Flexural Strength (MPa)
A common method to compare material translucency is to determine
the Contrast Ratio CR: The white light remission from a specimen placed
over a standardized black (Yb) and white (Yw) background is determined.
CR is calculated as CR = Yb /Yw. CR is ≤ 1, a CR value of 1 represents
a completely opaque specimen. The lower CR the higher is the trans­
lucency of a specimen; translucency can be expressed by 1-CR.
20
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indicate no significant difference (P< 0.05) 4.
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Fig. 2: Translucency (1-CR) of unshaded zirconia samples (1 mm thickness, Color i7,
3M ESPE internal data, partially published 3 ).
3M™ ESPE™ Lava™ Plus High Translucency Zirconia offers excellent trans­
lucency while keeping Alumina inside to ensure aging stability (Fig. 2).
The high strength of zirconia allows thinner walled, tooth structure
preserving restorations. The minimum occlusal wall thickness is 0.5 mm
for Lava™ Zirconia posterior crowns as compared to 1.5 mm for lithium
disilicate. The wall thickness also has a big influence on the translu­
cency – thin structures are more translucent. Comparing minimum
allowed occlusal thicknesses reveals that A3 shaded Lava™ Plus Zirconia
can reach a translucency level in the range of IPS e.max CAD LT A3
(Fig. 5).
25
45
40
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20
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Fig. 3: Translucency (1-CR) of zirconia samples samples shaded A3 with the manufacturers shading
liquid except “*” shaded with Zirkonzahn Prettau Color Liquid A3 (1 mm thickness, Color i7,
3M ESPE internal data, partially published 3).
Zirconia is mostly used in the shaded state. Color is generated by absorb­ing
part of the white light spectrum. Therefore shading is always accompanied
with a loss in translucency. Lava™ Plus is a complete system including
dyeing liquids tailored to the microstructure of Lava™ Plus Zirconia. The
patented 3M ESPE ion dyeing technology allows higher translucency in
the shaded state (Fig. 3).
Lava™ Plus Zirconia translucency improvement was achieved keeping
strength at the high level of Lava™ Zirconia. Strength of Lava™ Plus
restorations was investigated at Tokyo Medical & Dental University:
“… Lava™ Plus High Translucency Zirconia showed improved translucency
without compromising its mechanical properties.” In the same study
3M Deutschland GmbH
Location Seefeld
3M ESPE · ESPE Platz
82229 Seefeld · Germany
[email protected]
www.3MESPE.com
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Minimum occlusal thickness posterior crowns
Fig. 5: Translucency (1-CR) of IPS e.max CAD LT A3 and Lava™ Plus shaded A3 for a thickness
of 1 mm and for the respective minimum occlusal wall thickness for posterior crowns
(Color i7, 3M ESPE internal data).
Lava™ Plus High Translucency Zirconia –
A plus in translucency you can rely on
Lava™ Plus Zirconia is smartly engineered for excellent translucency.
The esthetical improvement comes with the quality you can expect
from a Lava™ Zirconia restoration: Precision of fit, high strength and
aging stability. This is backed up by a 15 years limited warranty on
Lava™ Plus Highly Translucent Zirconia frameworks and monolithic
restorations.
Wear behavior of Zirconia after hydrothermal accelerated aging, Dittmann R, Urban M, Braun P, Schmalzl A,
Theelke B, J Dent Res 90 (Spec Iss B):307, 2011
Wear behavior of a new Zirconia after hydrothermal accelerated aging, Dittmann R, Urban M, Schechner G,
Hauptmann H, Mecher E, J Dent Res 91 (Spec Iss A):1317, 2012
3)
C ontrast Ratios of Uncolored and Colored Zirconia Materials, Schechner G, Dittmann R, A. Fischer,
Hauptmann H, J Dent Res 91 (Spec Iss A):1323, 2012
4)
Translucency and Biaxial Flexural Strength of Dental Ceramics, Wang F, Takahashi H, J Dent Res 91
(Spec Iss A): 422, 2012
1)
2)
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