Vericore Abutments

On my way out of town last Friday, I had a brief conversation with Stuart Steinbock of the WhipMix Corporation to get an update on the availability of their line of Vericore Zirconia/Titanium Shaded Implant Custom Abutments (How about we go with "VCA" from here on out?).  

As you may remember, VCAs are currently available for all four of Nobel Biocare's Replace Select platforms.  Stuart advised me that - FDA willing - he hopes to have 27 more platforms available later this summer.  That's great news for your patients being treated with implants in the "Esthetic Zone".  

Let me provide you with a brief pictorial on the VCA process - 

1.  We begin with an implant soft tissue model.  Depending upon the circumstances (and, always with your permission) we may slightly alter the silicone "tissue" to achieve proper emergence profile of the restoration.  A waxing jig, duplicating the interface of the selected platform, is attached to the model, and the final dimensions of the coronal portion of the VCA are modelled.

2.  The wax-up is then removed from the model and attached to a custom scanning platform which is then placed in our 3Shape Scanner for digitization.  

3.  Once the file is created, and the shade of the abutment is selected, the data is sent via internet to the Vericore Milling Center in Louisville, KY.  These milling machines are some of the most sophisticated devices currently being used in the dental laboratory industry.  Each weighs in excess of 3 tons and is capable of milling tolerances of 5 microns.

4.  The coronal portion of the VCA is milled from industry-standard Metoxit zirconia.  The milled unit is then shaded and sintered, and then press-fit to a titanium interface.  A seating screw is supplied with the abutment and should be torqued to the guidelines set forth by the implant manufacturer.  (The screw seat is specifically engineered to hold the individual zirconia and titanium components together without the need for a luting resin.)

5.  When we receive the VCA in the laboratory, we can do a variety of restorations including a Vericore Crown, Lava, or e.Max.  In this case, we chose to use the e.Max HT material.  The abutment was placed on the model and scanned.  Using the 3Shape software, we modelled the final contours of the restoration and then applied an automatic cut-back algorithm.

6.  The result was pressed and characterized with some subtle gingival and incisal effects.  The e.Max veneering porcelain was then applied, fired, contoured and glazed.

I think the result speaks for itself.  There is no "greying" of the restoration that so often happens with metallic custom abutments.  The pressed fit of the e.Max material is spot-on, and the translucency of the new HT material is phenomenal.  I have to say that given the results, this combination of restorative solutions would be my go-to option for anterior implant cases. 

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.