Product Profile: BruxZir Zirconia Shade Guide

Shade-taking for BruxZir restorations

The No. 1 prescribed monolithic zirconia material worldwide now has a shade guide designed to simplify and render more accurate shade selections for BruxZir restorations. Before the BruxZir Zirconia Shade Guide, clinicians faced several challenges in matching shades. These traditional shade systems were typically made from porcelain or acrylic, making it difficult to match the correct shade for a zirconia restoration. Traditional shade systems also presented a large number of shades to choose from, which complicated the process and took up valuable chair time.

With the new BruxZir Shade Guide, simplicity and accuracy are key. It offers just eight of the most frequently prescribed colors, so clinicians can quickly choose the correct shade. Each individual shade tab is made of genuine BruxZir Zirconia, ensuring that the chosen shade will accurately reflect the final restoration. The shade tabs also have two sides: One side is glazed and the other is unglazed. The glazed surface is used for shade matching, while the unglazed surface can be used for a stump shade assessment.

The shade guide utilizes Glidewell’s proprietary shade nomenclature after the letter Z for zirconia. The shades range from Z1 to Z8 and also correlate with the Vita Classical shades of A1, A2, A3, A3.5, B1, C1 and D2, with Glidewell’s bleach shade BL. Each shade tab is marked to ensure that clinicians can easily communicate with the lab. This also prevents clinicians from receiving restorations that do not accurately reflect the shade they originally selected.

When using the BruxZir Shade Guide, clinicians can follow guidelines to maximize their shade-taking results, which includes selecting the value reading and the hue, taking close-up photographs to help enrich communication with the lab, and drawing a shade map using a Glidewell Rx form to diagram additional tooth characteristics. As a whole, the BruxZir Shade Guide is designed to simplify the shade selection process and give clinicians the accurate zirconia restorations they expect.

For more information, visit glidewelldirect.com or call 800-887-3553.