Stoneglass delivers the Grange

Sydney-based dental lab, Stoneglass Laboratories, renowned for its excellent workmanship and innovative marketing activities which have extended to radio advertising to the public to promote dentistry, has come up with another first.

Stoneglass' proprietor, Georges Sara, has done a deal with Penfolds Wines to promote their premier product, the world-renowned Grange Hermitage, to the dental community.

Any dentist pre-purchasing ten solid milled zirconium crowns from the lab will receive a bottle of 1997 Grange Hermitage as part of the package.

"Zirconium is growing to be the material of choice for crowns in Australia and worldwide," said Mr Sara, "and Stoneglass is one of the few local dental labs that can provide full, high tech, cad/cam manufactured solid zirconium crowns.

"It is the best material on the market and we want dentists to experience its strength and beauty first hand, so we came up with what we consider to be a very compelling promotion.

"You simply pre-purchase ten crowns before June 30 for $3500 and we will send you the bottle of 1997 Grange Hermitage as a special thank you. The only condition really is that you use the ten crowns within the next 12 months."

Mr Sara did not perceive this as a problem as once his current dentist clients started using the new material it quickly became the product of choice. And, if you purchase before the end of June 2003, you will also receive a tax deduction of $3500 for the current financial year.

Mr Sara recently went to Germany to visit Degussa Dental where he was introduced to the Cercon Smart Ceramics System. He was educated on the benefits of the system over a full week. On arrival back in Australia he had the materials tested independently by a local University which certified that the Cercon Zirconium material is of a very high standard.

The system was then acquired and will be fully operational by July 1, 2003. It will be the first system installed in Australasia, another first for Stoneglass.

According to Mr Sara, the Cercon System provides the dentist with a larger range of choices in metal free restorations. For example single crowns, bridges, semi-fixed bridges, veneers, onlays and Maryland bridges are all possible.

"Using the Cercon System will allow us to produce single crowns quicker and more cost effective," Mr Sara said.

Zirconium, or Zircon Oxide as it is also termed, is an extremely high performance ceramic. It is a material that is ideal for use in dental technology, being naturally white, biocompatible and very strong. It withstands even the extreme stresses in the molar region as impressively demonstrated in a study by the research group headed by Professor Peter Scharer of the Zurich University Dental Clinic and Professor Ludwig Gauckler of the renowned Zurich Federal Institute of Technology (see www.cercon-smart-ceramics.com for info). As a result of this proven technology, the dentist can offer their patients Zirconium all-ceramic crowns and bridges in the incisal and/or molar region.

Mr Sara's Stoneglass Dental laboratory is centrally located in Burwood, Sydney, employs eight people and has the latest high tech lab equipment including the DCS Precident CAD/CAM system, Procera system, IPS Empress system, Heraeus Kulzer Artglass system and a Bego laser welding machine.

The laboratory produces all aspects of metal ceramics, metal free ceramics, Artglass fillings and implants. It's milling systems mill Titanium, Alumina, Zirconium and DC-Tel, which is fibre reinforced polyamide with glass fibres. It also produces IPS Empress one restorations and implant work from single implant crowns to full arch reconstructions. The laboratory has combined titanium milling and laser welding to produce implant custom abutments.

According to Mr. Sara it is the only laboratory in Australia that can produce implant reconstructions from fixture level to finished implant bridge using zirconium as the core material.