Prettau®, the zirconia from the Dolomites. For the patients you value.

As unique as the Dolomites mountains (South Tyrol, Italy), is zirconia the dental material of choice. Inspired by its base properties, MDT Enrico Steger founded his Zirkonzahn company in 2003 with the aim of getting the best out of it. In the heart of the Italian Alps, the Zirkonzahn team constantly works to imbue zirconia with unique properties, to infuse it with luminosity and extraordinary attributes. The result is a special material: Prettau® zirconia. A material conceived, produced and tested without compromise to ensure the best quality.

Prettau Bridges (monolithic, 14-unit bridges made with Prettau) have been used for more than 15 years to provide patients with aesthetic and long-lasting restorations. Starting from classic Prettau zirconia (1200 MPa), the range has been expanded over the years with new materials, to meet dentists' and patients' requests. Prettau 4 Anterior® (670 MPa), with its extremely high translucency, is the ideal alternative to lithium disilicate. Prettau 2, on the other hand, combines its high flexural strength (1300 MPa) with excellent translucency, becoming the optimal solution for particularly aesthetic full arches, both monolithic and reduced.

With the Dispersive® line, the path of monolithic design has been brought to a step forward: indeed, Dispersive materials are characterised already during the manufacturing process by a natural colour gradient thanks to a special technique that does not blend colours into layers but disperses them evenly. The latest innovation within Zirkonzahn range of zirconia materials is Prettau 3 Dispersive. The material is already provided with a triple gradient of natural colour, flexural strength and translucency. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for the production of monolithic natural-looking restorations.

• Zirconia with Gradual-Triplex-Technology: triple gradient with natural colour as well as increasing flexural strength and translucency values:
  • Cervically increasing flexural strength; extremely high flexural strength at the tooth neck;
  • Incisally increasing translucency; highly translucent incisal edge; and
  • Colour gradient which reproduces the natural tooth colours from dentine to enamel.
• Colour scheme from A1-D4 as well as 3 Bleach shades; special zirconia shade guides in the shape of premolar as well as lower and upper incisors (customisable!);
• Manual colouring and further characterisation is no longer required, but can be performed to achieve more patient-specific results; and
• Especially suitable for monolithic design, which avoids ceramic chipping.

For a final result which matches with the colour of the patient's natural teeth, special shade guides were developed: Zirkonzahn Shade Guides are composed of monolithic zirconia sample teeth in the shape of premolars, upper and lower incisors and they are available in Prettau 2 Dispersive, Prettau 3 Dispersive and Prettau 4 Anterior Dispersive zirconia. The colour spectrum is inspired by the VITA classic range, comprised of 16 dentine colours (A1-D4) and 3 bleach shades. If the material of the shade guide and the material of the zirconia prosthesis are identical, it is ensured that the colour of the zirconia restoration corresponds 1:1 with the natural tooth colour of the patient.

The "all in-house" culture: An entire factory dedicated to Prettau zirconia production overlooking the Dolomites Mountains

After Premolaris and Molaris I & II, Caninus is the company's most recent production site located in the heart of the Dolomites Mountains, specifically built to broaden their Prettau zirconia production. As unique as these natural monoliths, Prettau zirconia takes its name from the farthest village of the Aurina Valley in South Tyrol and was conceived for aesthetic restorations, from single crowns to monolithic full arches – the so-called Prettau Bridges. The Prettau line includes different zirconia typologies, available in white blanks for further characterisation, pre-coloured and with colour gradient for optimal aesthetics. Blanks are available in different heights (from 5 to 40 mm) and diameters – Ø 95, Ø 98 with step, Ø 106 mm, as well as mini blanks to mill single crowns in hardly used colours.

Zirconia restorations are meant to stay in the patient's mouth for long periods, or in most cases permanently, which makes the matter of quality even more important. This is why Zirkonzahn work philosophy dictates that nothing must be produced under economic or time constraints. Prettau is manufactured with no compromises, using raw materials accurately selected from reliable suppliers.

Upon arrival, the powder undergoes strict controls for quality assurance and, working without constraints, much time can be dedicated to the development of the most refined working processes, in close collaboration with the in-house R&D department.

To achieve high homogeneity, the raw material is pressed biaxially and/or isostatically and the most advanced technologies are used to obtain the best aesthetic and mechanical properties.

In the last few years, the company's range of zirconia has embarked even more on the path of monolithic design with the new Dispersive® line, which includes materials that are already characterised with a natural colour gradient during the manufacturing process, making manual colouring no longer necessary. The gradient is provided through a specially developed technique that does not blend colours into layers but disperses them evenly, lending restorations a beautiful and natural aesthetic. A perfect example of the company's constant strive for quality and sophistication is the innovative Gradual-Triplex-Technology, which provides the new Prettau 3 Dispersive material with a triple gradient of colour, flexural strength and translucency, achieving a perfect balance of resistance and aesthetics.

Each production batch is accurately checked after every production step, via specific tests and measurements. In this way, blanks' properties of hardness, dimensions, density, milling, colour and translucency as well as materials' shrinkage factor are constantly controlled, using close-tolerance instruments. Once the production step is concluded, final controls are run on each blank.

Being the sole process owners allows Zirkonzahn to have a complete understanding of their products, ensuring that they form an optimum match in the complete workflow. The in-house R&D team constantly works to improve and fine-tune solutions to create a reliable planning and working environment, where hardware, software, tools and materials fit together according to a perfect dental-technical logic. The full control over testing and production procedures gives the company the possibility to react very quickly to the customer's needs, not only through constant product optimisation but also through their wide range of comprehensive education courses ("Die Zirkonzahn Schule" – The Zirkonzahn School), where participants are trained on the usage of equipment and materials with no knowledge gaps.