All-ceramic posts and cores: The state of the art

Metal posts used to restore endodontically treated teeth may shine through all-ceramic crowns and thin gingival tissue. When nonprecious alloys are us ed, corrosion products may lead to discoloration. All-ceramic posts and cor es can be used in combination with all-ceramic crowns to prevent these prob lems. All-ceramic posts and cores are highly biocompatible and will almost always increase the translucency of an all-ceramic restoration. The purpose of this article is to describe the fabrication of all-ceramic posts and co res, using high-toughness ceramic materials such as alumina or zirconia cer amics, through 4 different techniques: the slip-casting technique; the copy -milling technique; the P-piece technique, which involves a prefabricated z irconia ceramic post and a copy-milled alumina or zirconia ceramic core; an d the heat-press technique, which involves a prefabricated zirconia ceramic post and a heat;pressed glass-ceramic core. Indications, contraindications , advantages, and disadvantages of the different techniques are compared.