Zirconia
Milling zirconia crowns from a ready STL file
An urgent case: zirconia crowns from a ready STL design milled, sintered and handed to the technician in one day, so that a patient from abroad could have them fitted on Saturday morning.
01 Challenge
Crowns needed by Saturday morning
A dentist came to us with an urgent case. Zirconia crowns ordered earlier from another milling centre had not arrived, and the patient, who had flown in from abroad, was booked for fitting on Saturday at 10:00. Moving the appointment before the patient's flight home was not an option.
The dentist had a ready crown design. He needed a laboratory that would take over production immediately and deliver sintered crowns on Friday, so that the technician had time for characterisation before the Saturday appointment.
Order requirements
- Input data: ready design in STL format with construction info files from exocad.
- Material: zirconia.
- Deadline: fitting on Saturday by 10:00.
02 Process
From STL file to finished crowns in one day
The order got top priority. Complete data from the dentist meant we could go straight into production without asking about design parameters.
1. Receiving and preparing the data (approx. 30 min)
We checked the STL files and the exocad construction info, then prepared the production data for milling.
2. CAM and milling (approx. 30 min)
On Friday at 9:00 the crowns went onto a 5-axis CNC milling machine. Milling reproduced the anatomical details designed in CAD.
3. Sintering (approx. 8 h)
At around 10:00 the crowns went into a high-temperature furnace. In a controlled sintering cycle zirconia reaches its final mechanical strength and optical properties.
4. Control and handover (approx. 30 min)
At around 18:00 we handed the sintered crowns to the dental technician, who carried out individual characterisation and aesthetic finishing.
03 Result
Fitting on schedule
On Saturday morning the dentist fitted the finished crowns, exactly as originally planned. The patient flew home with the treatment completed.
This case shows that with complete input data and an in-house CAD/CAM facility, zirconia crowns from an STL file can be made even urgently, without compromising the accuracy of fit.
04 Summary
Case details
- Type of work: zirconia crowns
- Input data: STL files + construction info (exocad)
- Technology: CAM, milling on a 5-axis CNC machine, sintering
- From milling to handover to the technician: approx. 9 hours