Clark Brown, DDS, received his dental degree from Georgetown University in 1978 and was board certified by the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry in 1993. He is a basic and advanced CEREC trainer and regularly conducts courses in basic CEREC, TiBase and fixed bridges using CEREC, and guided implant surgery. Dr. Brown has also presented live patient demonstrations of CEREC one-visit crowns and CEREC Guide implant surgery. He is the author of Galileos Cone Beam and CEREC Integration.

Brown, of Implant Dentistry of Florida in Melbourne, Fla., was selected as an early beta tester for CEREC Zirconia before its official distribution. Over the course of his testing, he performed 70 individual crowns and four fixed bridges. Every one of them impressed him – but it was the first one that got him hooked.

“The first time I did a zirconia crown in the mouth, it had me,” Brown said. “I absolutely fell in love with the whole process and it made so much sense. The fits are amazing. The occlusal surface looks absolutely outstanding. When the test period was over and they took the CEREC Zirconia package away from me, I shed a little tear.”

Fortunately for Brown, CEREC Zirconia is available now throughout the U.S. and Canada, so he has it back in his practice. The new product enables CEREC dentists to use zirconium oxide, a high-performance material with a high degree of flexural strength and biocompatibility. Among the first benefits Brown noticed is its tooth conservation in full-contour zirconia restorations.

“Right away, you see that you don’t have to reduce as much tooth structure. That’s pretty important,” he said. “Anytime you’re dealing with tooth structure, especially with young patients, the closer you are to the nerve, the more likely they are to needing to have a root canal. Preserving their tooth structure is so important, both to me and to the patient.”

Equally important, Brown said, was that CEREC Zirconia restorations can be cemented instead of bonded. He credited the combination of those two factors – preserving more tooth structure and cementing – for his exceptional results, with no patients returning due to sensitivity or in need of bite adjustments.

Brown said he allots the same amount of time – 90 minutes – for zirconia restorations as he does for e.max and other all-ceramic CEREC restorations. In fact, CEREC Zirconia is capable of complete restorations in as little as 70 minutes. Along with the release of the zirconia blocks came the CEREC SpeedFire – the world’s first CAD/CAM-controlled furnace that’s also the fastest sintering, glazing and ceramic firing furnace with the smallest footprint. The CEREC SpeedFire’s sintering and firing process typically takes just 10-15 minutes.

The entire workflow is simple and exceeded Brown’s expectations. After just a short time working with the technology, he realized that the release of CEREC Zirconia filled a hole in his practice that he didn’t know he had.

“Single-visit dentistry, in and of itself, is an extreme benefit to both dentists and patients,” he said. “On top of that, you add CEREC Zirconia and you get even more value. There’s less tooth reduction, less post-operative sensitivity, no bonding, and it’s high strength. That makes it my absolute first choice for posterior crowns.”

“The first time I did a zirconia crown in the mouth, it had me.”