Ivoclar Vivadent, Inc., the company that more than 15 years ago launched the Esthetic RevolutionSM with the introduction of IPS Empress, has announced the availability of the next generation of revolutionary all-ceramic materials: IPS e.max. In response to market demands for products that provide both dentists and laboratories with a means to achieve greater productivity, performance and esthetics, IPS e.max is a singular all-ceramic system that encompasses both pressable and CAD/CAM technologies for the realization of true simplicity and versatility when prescribing and fabricating esthetic and strong metal-free restorations. As a result, even the most complex, multi-indication cases can be completed with just one restorative system.
“I love the IPS e.max system and its versatility; I am able to satisfy most patient needs with the use of only one layering ceramic. One multi-dimensional ceramic makes the fabrication of cemented bridges, pressed ceramics and zirconia restorations easier, because the need for accommodating and understanding multiple systems is eliminated,” said ceramist Matt Roberts. “This is a singular solution that meets most patients’ restorative and aesthetic goals. The warm, vital, and opalescent effects that I see with IPS e.max are very exciting.”
The IPS e.max system includes IPS e.max CAD, which are high-strength, pre-crystalized glass ceramic blocks for single-unit copings for anterior and posterior restorations, as well as 3-unit anterior bridges. When higher strength is required, IPS e.max ZirCAD—a zirconium oxide block ideal for anterior and posterior multiple-unit bridges—can also be processed efficiently using today’s CAD/CAM technology. When pressable fabrication techniques are warranted, IPS e.max Press is available, offering the fit, form, function and optical properties expected from pressable ceramics for anterior and posterior crown copings and anterior bridges. For press-to-zirconia techniques, IPS e.max ZirPress—a fluorapatite glass ceramic ingot—enhances productivity and maximizes the marginal integrity of the restorations produced.
“IPS e.max is the perfect synergy of productivity and artistry,” explains Lee Culp , CDT. “The combination of CAD/CAM, pressable technologies, and a unique veneering ceramic allows exclusive use of one ceramic system for all restorative procedures.”
Unifying all of the IPS e.max components is the IPS e.max Ceram layering ceramic, which is compatible with all of the IPS e.max substructures. Its nano-fluorapatite glass ceramic formulation provides an opalescence, translucency and brightness that will enable the creation of truly life-like restorations, regardless of the fabrication technique used.
With the introduction of IPS e.max, dentists can now confidently write a prescription for metal-free, all-ceramic restorations regardless of the esthetic, functional or complex requirements of the case and know that they will be completed with a singular smile design chemistry. For laboratories, IPS e.max represents the ultimate in productivity, performance and esthetics by eliminating the need for inventorying multiple porcelains, streamlining the training of ceramists and minimizing costly mistakes that result from using incompatible layering materials.