Dental porcelain

[2] It came from the ancient art of fabricating pottery where mostly clay was fired to form a hard, brittle object; a more modern definition is a material that contains metallic and non-metallic elements (usually oxygen).

These materials can be defined by their inherent properties including their hard, stiff, and brittle nature due to the structure of their inter-atomic bonding, which is both ionic and covalent.

These bonds are defined by a cloud of shared electrons with the ability to move easily when energy is applied.

There can be an infinite variability of the microstructures of materials, but they can be broken down into four basic compositional categories, with a few subgroups: Dental ceramic is generally regarded as biologically inert.

However, other toxicities may exist from depleted uranium as well as some of the other accessory materials; in addition, the restoration may increase wear on opposing teeth.

The mass is then left to cool slowly to prevent cracking and reduced strength of the final restoration.

Adding more layers to build up the restoration to the desired shape and/or size requires the ceramic to undergo further rounds of firing.

[13][8] By utilising in-office CAD/CAM technology, clinicians are able to design, fabricate and place all-ceramic inlays, onlays, crowns and veneers in a single patient visit.