First of all, I didn't like it to be too long and boring. So I've tried to share such information in a brief.
It is crucial that clinicians be aware of the correct choice of the material to provide them optimal longevity and the best results.


There are different types of ceramics for dental applications as well as different classification systems and indications. Dental ceramics may be divided into vitreous “ glass-ceramics “, particle-reinforced and polycrystalline.

We always hear about " Porcelain ", so what is porcelain? 🤔
It is a blend composed of three minerals: white clay (calcium), quartz, and feldspar. When these three ingredients are pulverized, mixed, molded and fired, they become the white ceramic known due to staining acquired after the firing process.
Porcelain is a type of white ceramic which possesses relatively high strength and translucency.
By heating a certain type of feldspar rock containing 11% potassium and rapid cooling, it forms a glass. This glass, when reheated, had a high coefficient of thermal expansion, because of the formation of a new crystal, leucite. By developing this crystal, they discovered the first particle to reinforce modern ceramics and, even more importantly, achieved through the incorporation of leucite crystals in feldspathic ceramics which possesses a similar thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of metal. And so the first successful porcelain-fused-to-metal restorations were successfully made.

Glass-ceramics ✅
Feldspathic ceramics is essentially a mixture of potassium feldspar or sodium feldspar and quartz.
Although they were chemically stable materials and provide excellent aesthetics, they are essentially brittle materials of low fracture strength ( 90-100 Mpa ) which is typical of fragile materials.
So their use was restricted to low loading situations of stress in the anterior region.
For this purpose, filler particles began to be added to the glass-ceramics, to improve properties such as strength as well as thermal expansion coefficient.
Highly aesthetic ceramics are predominantly vitreous. They are the best materials for reproducing the optical properties of enamel and dentin and are often identified as veneering porcelain, which often is accompanied by a ceramic infrastructure (polycrystalline or glass particle-reinforced) more suitable when jointly used.

Particle-reinforced Ceramics ✅
We can divide it into two main categories:
1️⃣ High glass content ceramics where approximately 55% wt of leucite crystals were added to a glass matrix. This greater amount of leucite was added to the feldspathic ceramic in order to increase its resistance and advantages such as the absence of an opaque infrastructure and good translucency.
Currently, the main and most widespread product for leucite-reinforced ceramic restorations is the injection system IPS Empress Esthetic and IPS Empress CAD (Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein).
2️⃣ Low glass content ceramics which have
about 70% wt of lithium disilicate.
In 2005, the IPS e.max Press system (Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein) had been launched, consisting of a lithium disilicate-based pressable ceramic superior to IPS Empress in the physical properties as well as its translucency, making it feasible to be utilized as an aesthetic veneering ceramic.
The IPS e.max system is available for injection as well as CAD/CAM technologies.
Two types of ingots are available for the injection technology: IPS e.max Press & IPS e.max ZirPress for application over zirconia copings. For veneering, the IPS e.max Ceram " powder form " is available.
we will continue with more materials and classification systems.

Stay tuned.