An appliance fabricated to improve the appearance of a patient's smile includes a plurality of simulated teeth. The interior surfaces of each of the teeth closely fits and conforms to the surface of a patient's real teeth while the outer surfaces of each of the simulated teeth has an ideal surface configuration. The dental appliance provides the patient with the appearance of a perfect set of teeth and an ideal smile without a need to alter the dental structure of the patient's teeth.

The present invention relates to a kit of parts comprising a dental mill blank comprising a porous zirconia material and a colouring solution for colouring the porous zirconia material. The porous zirconia material comprises Zr oxide calculated as ZrO2: from 80 to 97 wt.-%, Al oxide calculated as Al2O3: from 0 to 0.15 wt.-%, Y oxide calculated as Y2O3: from 1 to 10 wt.-%, Bi oxide calculated as Bi2O3: from 0.01 to 0.2 wt.-%, the porous zirconia material not comprising Fe calculated as Fe2O3 in an amount of more than 0.01 wt.-%, wt.-% with respect to the weight of the porous zirconia material. The colouring solution comprises solvent(s), colouring agent(s) comprising metal ions selected from Tb, Er, Pr, Mn or combinations thereof, the solution not comprising Fe ions in an amount of more than 0.01 wt.-%, the solution not comprising Bi ions in an amount of more than 0.01 wt.-%, wt.-% with respect to the weight of the colouring solution. The invention also relates to a process of producing a dental restoration, the process comprising the steps: providing a dental mill blank comprising a porous zirconia material as described in any of the preceding claims, machining an article out of the porous zirconia material, the article having the shape of a dental restoration with an outer and inner surface, providing a colouring solution as described in any of the preceding claims, applying the colouring solution to at least portions of the surface of the article having the shape of a dental restoration.

A prosthesis that contains zirconia and supplements a defective portion of a natural bone, and that is changed to a color approximate to that of the natural bone by a heat treatment after a γ-ray sterilization treatment. The color approximate to that of the natural bone has an L* value of 60 to 90, an a* value of −5 to 10, and a b* value of −5 to 10 in the L*a*b* color space. The highest temperature in the heat treatment is 100° C. to 300° C. The prosthesis is a fixture of a dental implant embedded into and bonded to a natural bone, an abutment, an implant crown, and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide an implant structure assuring that substances accelerating breeding of bacteria are hard to be induced. The implant structure comprises: an artificial tooth root including an artificial tooth root main body having a distal end portion and a proximal end portion and a thread being formed at least on the distal end portion side and an induction portion for inducing a soft tissue provided on an outer periphery of the proximal end portion of the artificial tooth root main body; and a support base having a covering portion at the proximal end portion side of the support base covering the whole surface of the proximal end portion side of the induction portion, wherein the support base is provided with a step portion along its outer periphery from the covering portion toward a distal end side of the support base.

An object of the present invention is to provide an implant structure assuring that substances accelerating breeding of bacteria are hard to be induced. The implant structure comprises: an artificial tooth root including an artificial tooth root main body having a distal end portion and a proximal end portion and a thread being formed at least on the distal end portion side and an induction portion for inducing a soft tissue provided on an outer periphery of the proximal end portion of the artificial tooth root main body; and a support base having a covering portion at the proximal end portion side of the support base covering the whole surface of the proximal end portion side of the induction portion, wherein the support base is provided with a step portion along its outer periphery from the covering portion toward a distal end side of the support base.

The invention relates to a method for producing a dental prosthesis, wherein the dental prosthesis comprises a prosthesis base and a plurality of prosthesis teeth, wherein the method is carried out making use of a virtual three-dimensional dental prosthesis model of the physical dental prosthesis which is to be produced, and wherein the virtual three-dimensional dental prosthesis model comprises virtual prosthesis teeth and a virtual prosthesis base, with the steps: from the external form of the vestibular surfaces and/or occlusal surfaces of the virtual prosthesis teeth, and from the external form of the vestibular surface of the virtual prosthesis base of the virtual three-dimensional dental prosthesis model, a virtual model of a template is calculated, such that a region of the virtual surface of the virtual template is formed by a negative of the vestibular surfaces and/or occlusal surfaces of the virtual prosthesis teeth and of the virtual prosthesis base, wherein the location and the orientation of the virtual prosthesis teeth relative to one another and relative to the virtual prosthesis base remain retained in the negative; producing of a physical template with a CAM method on the basis of the data of the virtual model of the template; placing and securing of physical prosthesis teeth in the template, wherein the vestibular surfaces and/or occlusal surfaces of the prosthesis teeth are placed in the surface of the template formed by the negative matching thereto; and securing the physical prosthesis teeth to a physical prosthesis base, wherein the prosthesis base is inserted into the template fitted with the prosthesis teeth, such that the vestibular surface of the prosthesis base is placed in the matching surface of the template formed by the negative.

The invention relates to a tooth replacement including at least one posterior tooth having a mesial contact surface, a distal contact surface, and an occlusal surface. The occlusal surfaces includes at least one buccal cusp having a buccal cusp tip, a lingual cusp having a lingual cusp tip, a central fissure which has at least one tooth pit and passes through the occlusal surface in the mesiodistal direction between the two cusps, a first gradient which slopes downward from the buccal cusp tip in the direction of the central fissure, and a second gradient which slopes downward from the lingual cusp tip in the direction of the central fissure. The tooth replacement according to the invention is characterized in that the mesial contact surface, the distal contact surface and/or the occlusal contact surface comprise expansion spaces that have been incorporated in a targeted manner to obtain a dynamic occlusal guidance.

The invention relates to a tooth replacement including at least one posterior tooth having a mesial contact surface, a distal contact surface, and an occlusal surface. The occlusal surfaces includes at least one buccal cusp having a buccal cusp tip, a lingual cusp having a lingual cusp tip, a central fissure which has at least one tooth pit and passes through the occlusal surface in the mesiodistal direction between the two cusps, a first gradient which slopes downward from the buccal cusp tip in the direction of the central fissure, and a second gradient which slopes downward from the lingual cusp tip in the direction of the central fissure. The tooth replacement according to the invention is characterized in that the mesial contact surface, the distal contact surface and/or the occlusal contact surface comprise expansion spaces that have been incorporated in a targeted manner to obtain a dynamic occlusal guidance.

A dental coloring stamp has a transfer pad for transferring a dental coloring solution to a precursor of a dental restoration. The transfer pad is at least partially formed of an open-celled elastic sponge and has a free transfer surface. The cross-section of the transfer pad is greater than a circular area of 10 mm in diameter so that a side of a dental restoration precursor can be stamped and thus colored. The invention helps facilitating the coloring of dental restorations.

The invention provides a method for dental restoration including direct modification or customization of a final abutment inside the patient's mouth. The final abutment is made from a non-titanium material. The final abutment, after being completely modified or customized, may then be used to support a crown. The invention exhibits numerous merits such as simplified procedure, cost-effectiveness, reduction of laboratory adjustment, reduction of chair time, and reduction of dentist office visits.