The material library
Most cannot, or will not. Below is every material we work in — the ceramics by manufacturer and product line, the metals and print resins by specification and standard, with the flexural strength the manufacturer publishes, the translucency figure, what it is genuinely good for, and where it is the wrong choice. Your case record carries the lot number of the exact blank yours was milled from.
01 · 5 materials
Yttria content decides everything here. 3Y is strong and opaque, 5Y is translucent and comparatively weak, and 4Y is the compromise most single units want. Anyone who calls all of it 'zirconia' is hiding the only variable that matters.
Kuraray Noritake
1100 MPa
flexural
3Y-TZP high-strength zirconia for posterior and long-span work.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Too opaque for a single anterior unit next to natural enamel.
Kuraray Noritake
750 MPa
flexural
4Y multilayer zirconia — the workhorse balance of strength and translucency.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Not indicated for spans beyond three units in heavy function.
Kuraray Noritake
550 MPa
flexural
5Y ultra-translucent multilayer zirconia for aesthetic single units.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Single units only; the translucency is bought with strength.
Ivoclar
650–1200 MPa
flexural
A gradient disc that runs 3Y at the cervical and 5Y at the incisal within a single blank.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Zirkonzahn
High-translucency monolithic zirconia developed for full-arch and full-mouth work.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
02 · 3 materials
Lithium disilicate remains the reference for a bonded anterior unit, and feldspathic layering remains the only way to get certain effects. Both depend on adhesive technique to reach their published numbers.
Ivoclar
530 MPa
flexural
Milled lithium disilicate — the reference standard for bonded anterior units.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Requires adhesive cementation to reach its published strength.
Ivoclar
470 MPa
flexural
Pressed lithium disilicate, for thin veneers and hand-characterised anteriors.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Ivoclar / VITA / Kuraray Noritake
Hand-applied layering porcelain used over zirconia and metal substructures.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Layered ceramic remains the most chip-prone surface we make.
03 · 2 materials
Ceramic-polymer networks with an elasticity closer to enamel than to zirconia. Useful where the restoration should absorb a load rather than transmit it into an implant.
VITA Zahnfabrik
A dual-network hybrid of ceramic and polymer, with enamel-like elasticity.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
GC
Force-absorbing nano-ceramic that can be repaired intraorally with composite.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
04 · 1 material
Milled provisional material. It is here to hold a geometry for weeks, not years, and we will say so if it is prescribed as anything else.
Multiple validated suppliers
Milled provisionals, prototypes and long-term temporaries.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Provisional only — not a definitive restorative material.
05 · 4 materials
Heat-cure, injection and monolithic milled bases. The bonded-disc materials remove the base-to-tooth bond line, which is where conventional dentures usually fail first.
Dentsply Sirona
The long-established high-impact heat-cure denture base resin.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Ivoclar
High-impact injection denture base with controlled shrinkage compensation.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Ivoclar
A bonded disc that mills the base and the teeth as a single monolithic body — no bond line to fail.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Valplast / DuraFlex class
Metal-free flexible partial framework material.
Best for
Where it is wrong
Cannot be relined conventionally and resists chairside adjustment.
06 · 4 materials
Certified stock only. Every alloy and every titanium blank is recorded to the case by lot number, because a metal you cannot trace is a metal you cannot defend.
Certified implant-grade stock
Custom abutments, bars and full-arch frameworks milled from solid.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Certified dental alloy stock
Removable frameworks, metal-ceramic copings and milled bars.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Certified dental alloy stock
Noble-content substructures for metal-ceramic and full-cast restorations.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Certified dental alloy stock
High-gold-content alloys for full-cast and metal-ceramic work.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
07 · 5 materials
Validated printer ecosystems rather than open-market resin. The dimensional accuracy of a printed model is only meaningful if the resin, the printer and the cure protocol are qualified together.
Validated printer ecosystems
90 MPa
flexural
Dimensionally validated printing resin for working models and dies.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Validated printer ecosystems
119 MPa
flexural
Biocompatible printed resin (ISO 10993 tested) for night guards and splints, firm and flexible grades.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Validated printer ecosystems
120 MPa
flexural
Sterilisable biocompatible resin for surgical guides.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Validated printer ecosystems
147 MPa
flexural
Printed denture base and tooth materials for digital removable workflows.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Validated thermoforming stock
Multi-layer thermoforming material for aligners and clear retainers.
Best for
Where it is wrong
No general contraindication within its published indications. Prescribe it outside them and the case desk will say so before production starts.
Shade reference
20 shades · VITA_CLASSICAL
29 shades · VITA_3D_MASTER
20 shades · CHROMASCOP
9 steps
For anything translucent — lithium disilicate, 5Y zirconia, veneers — the preparation shade decides the result as much as the ceramic does. A stump shade is not optional on those cases, and the prescription form will ask for one.
Publishing the limitation
You should hear that from your laboratory rather than from the remake. If a prescription and a material do not agree, we raise it in the review step — with the tooth, the span and the reason named.