The Need for Speed

A CEREC dentist for the past 20 years, Daniel Vasquez, DDS, has witnessed some truly exciting advancements in the world of same-day dentistry. That includes the launch of the KATANA Zirconia STML block nearly a decade ago, which was a game changer due to its ability to transmit light in the incisal area and block it in the cervical area, creating naturally esthetic restorations.

“When KATANA STML came to market, it was a new era for us chairside dentists to start working with zirconia,” he said. “Then, we moved to the KATANA Zirconia ONE, which has incredible esthetics. Now, with the KATANA Zirconia ONE SPEED CROWN, not only are the esthetics beautiful, but it’s even stronger and faster. There’s no block on the market that can be processed as fast as the SPEED CROWN. Especially for my posterior crowns, there’s no question—everything is milled with this block.”

Designed for milling in the CEREC Primemill and sintering in the CEREC SpeedFire, the multilayered KATANA Zirconia ONE SPEED CROWN inherits all the features of KATANA Zirconia ONE except for one—sintering time. Thanks to a Kuraray Noritake unique zirconia powder that uses less thermal energy to reach a high activated state, the sintering process is accelerated to just 9 minutes.

Fast, Easy, and Esthetic

“With this material, it takes exactly 60 minutes from the moment that I take the impression to the moment I take a final x-ray, which is incredible,” said Dr. Vasquez. “We’re a fully digital office, so we embrace anything that makes the digital workflow more efficient and gets the patient out of the chair as quickly as possible. When the patient is happy, we get referrals, and our practice grows.”

Once the crown is complete, Dr. Vasquez turns to a trusted team of Kuraray Noritake Dental restorative materials—including CLEARFIL Universal Bond Quick 2, KATANA Cleaner, and PANAVIA SA Cement Universal—to deliver the restoration easily and predictably.

“I use 100% Kuraray Noritake Dental for my restoratives because they create an incredible workflow next to the digital one,” he said. “When we turn to the protocols and workflows we’ve established with these materials, we always have success.”

Success Without Sensitivity

Whether it’s a filling or a crown, said Dr. Vasquez, there’s always a chance that patients will have sensitivity. But using science-based adhesives, cleaners, and cements that are designed to work together allows him to greatly reduce that chance.

“The most important things to me are patient care, comfort, safety, and satisfaction, and with SPEED CROWN, we can produce the most beautiful same-day dentistry with quality as good as any lab technician,” he said. “I placed a crown the other day with zero adjustments, and it’s easy to get used to that kind of dentistry. The technology is so accurate today that once you learn how to work with it, you’re going to get a great result and a happy patient.”