Short answer
A zirconia implant crown is a single crown milled from zirconia off your scan, either screw-retained on the implant or cemented onto an abutment. Monolithic zirconia has no veneering porcelain, so there is nothing to chip; in the anterior, multilayer zirconia plus staining gets the shade close to the adjacent teeth.
What it is
A single crown designed on your scan file and milled from a zirconia disc. After milling it is sintered to full strength, then finished, stained and glazed.
It can be screw-retained directly on the implant over a titanium base, or cemented onto an abutment. That call is yours, and it mostly comes down to where the screw access ends up. The zirconia disc is part of our check-in. If the case depends on a specific type, such as a more translucent or multilayer disc, note it on the Rx and we’ll confirm it when the case is opened.
When to prescribe it
For posterior single units, monolithic zirconia is an established alternative to metal-ceramic. A 2023 meta-analysis of randomized trials in The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry compared it with metal-ceramic in exactly this situation: survival was comparable, and chipping was lower with zirconia, which has no veneering layer to fail.
In the anterior, the substrate and the soft tissue drive the decision. Multilayer zirconia with a shade gradient, plus staining, handles most cases. When the esthetic demand is at its highest, talk the material through with us when the case is opened, before anything is milled.
How we make it
Smile Digital Lab, a digital implant lab in São Paulo, Brazil, makes the whole crown in-house, from the design on your scan to the glaze. Every stage of your case is validated and logged, the crown goes through eight checks before it ships, and you follow its phase in the portal. If you ask to see the design, the case holds at the Approval phase until you reply.
What to send
The essentials are in our case submission guide. For implant crowns, the two common causes of remakes are a poorly captured scan body and the wrong platform on the prescription, so check both before you send. Our piece on why implant crowns get remade goes deeper, and screw- vs cement-retained crowns helps you choose the retention.
Frequently asked questions
Screw-retained or cement-retained?
Both show high survival in systematic reviews, so the treatment plan decides. Screw-retained crowns are retrievable and leave no cement in the sulcus, but only work if the access hole lands somewhere acceptable. When the implant angle pushes the access to the buccal, a cemented crown on a custom abutment is usually the better call.
Does monolithic zirconia look natural in the anterior?
Multilayer zirconia, which grades in shade from cervical to incisal, plus staining gets close to natural teeth. To get it right we need the shade and a photo with the tab held next to the adjacent tooth.
Do I need to send the components?
Put the implant brand and platform on the prescription. For analog impressions, send the impression coping or the analog. At check-in we confirm the component is in stock before the case goes into production.
Sources
- Clinical performance of screw- versus cement-retained implant-supported fixed reconstructions (consensus statement) · ITI Academy
- Monolithic zirconia as a valid alternative to metal-ceramic for implant-supported single crowns in the posterior region — systematic review and meta-analysis · The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry (2023)
- Clinical outcomes of implant-supported monolithic zirconia crowns and fixed partial dentures — a systematic review · Journal of Prosthodontics (2023)