Completed Restoration
The final Digital Captek restoration features proper form, function and esthetic porcelain blends; the broad contacts requested by Dr. Melkers; and the internal surface of Captek Nano with a 360o metal collar to maximize plaque resistance, soft tissue health and tooth protection.

Step 8:
Opaque and apply porcelain as you would for any PFM restoration. I used a dry, four-powder d.Sign porcelain buildup technique, and applied A3.5 dentin at the cervical, A3 dentin at the middle and the appropriate incisal porcelain at the incisal one third. After the first firing, I used the same dentin shades and, instead of applying incisal porcelain near the occlusal surface, I used a neutral porcelain to give it the gray hue the doctor was requesting.

Step 7:
Using a sprinkle technique, apply the new UCP (Universal Coupler for Porcelain) bonder then fire the coping in a porcelain furnace at 1,058oC with a one-minute hold. This creates an optimal ceramic metal bond along with a light-refractive surface for enhanced porcelain optics.

Step 6:
Finish the margins at the edge and polish the coping using a diamond bur and polishing wheel; Captek offers a finishing kit for this step.

Step 5:
Place the Digital Captek coping onto the original die. With traditional Captek restorations, we always performed the swedging technique when transferring the coping from the refractory die to the original die, but find that this is no longer necessary with Digital Captek restorations.

Step 4:
Within two days, we received the coping (most are .23mm) and printed die which is great to use as a finishing and check die.

Step 3:
Upload the file to the Argen Digital website (www.argendigital.com) and select either a lingual, 360o or no collar. The Digital Captek restoration is developed on a hard plastic die and fabricated with Captek Nano series materials and internal strut reinforcement.

Step 2:
Scan the die using an open architecture or Sirona inLab scanner; we use our Origin Scanner with Exocad software.

Step 1:
Pour up the models and evaluate them for proper occlusal clearance. In posterior restorations, if the doctor requires full coverage porcelain, we require 1.5-2mm occlusal reduction and we don't waver from this. This simple quality control step can prevent fractures and resulting remakes. Using a half-round carbide, mark the buccal surface of the die about 3 to 4mm under the margin edge.