Keynote Address: High-Speed Sintering Protocols for Dental Zirconia

Abstract Body: With the advent of innovations and technologies, the efficiency of dental workflow is ever improving. Traditionally, the fabrication of zirconia restorations requires a prolonged sintering process, which inevitably becomes a major bottleneck in the workflow. Over the past half-decade, significant progress has been made in reducing sintering time. Zirconia crowns can now be sintered in 18 minutes. While effectively cutting down the sintering time, the effects of speed sintering on zirconia densification behavior, as well as translucency, shade, and fit, remain elusive. Utilizing the most widely used commercial powders, we systematically investigated the sintering behavior of zirconia and its impact on translucency, shade, and fit. Our findings could lead to the efficient fabrication of zirconia restorations with superior mechanical and esthetic properties.