What is Lava 3M Porcelain?

Lava 3M crowns are crafted from ceramic with nano-sized particles and then fired at high temperatures. This ensures durability and superior strength. Additionally, you can comfortably chew hot and cold foods without worrying about sensitivity.
Structure-wise, Lava 3M crowns have a zirconia core with a high-quality ceramic outer layer, providing excellent translucency, brightness, and light reflection for high aesthetics.

Where is Lava 3M made?

Lava 3M crowns are manufactured by 3M Corporation, headquartered in Maplewood, USA. This brand is well-known for providing dental materials that are thoroughly tested before reaching users.

How Many Types of Lava 3M Crowns Are There?

Currently, Lava 3M crowns come in three types: Plus 3M ESPE, Ultimate, and Esthetic Fluorescent Full-Contour Zirconia. Understanding the features of each type will help you choose the most suitable crown.

Lava Plus 3M ESPE

This is a widely used full ceramic crown, popular among customers in Vietnam.
The crown is made from pure ceramic blocks, fired at temperatures above 1000°C, ensuring perfect durability. In terms of strength, Lava Plus 3M ESPE outperforms many other full ceramic crowns, with a flexural strength 8–9 times that of natural teeth, allowing comfortable chewing.
Aesthetically, Lava Plus 3M ESPE is coated with a natural-colored ceramic layer, providing optimal translucency and realistic tooth-like striations, making it difficult for others to notice it’s a crown.
Another special feature of Lava Plus 3M ESPE is its thin and lightweight design, minimizing the need to trim the natural tooth.

Lava Ultimate Crowns

Lava Ultimate crowns use Nano technology in their production, ensuring high aesthetics, excellent resistance to staining and plaque, helping you feel more confident in social interactions.
Additionally, with a shock-resistant design, they are suitable for restorations on implants. These crowns offer long-lasting durability, good chewing ability, and minimize the risk of cracking.

Lava Esthetic Crowns

Lava Esthetic is also a popular choice for customers with issues such as tooth discoloration or cracks. A special feature of Lava Esthetic crowns is their internal fluorescence, making teeth appear whiter under sunlight.
Moreover, Lava Esthetic crowns are highly rated for their strength and provide good bite sensitivity.

Advantages of Lava 3M Crowns

Here are the advantages of Lava 3M crowns, helping you determine their suitability easily:
Advantages:
First, high aesthetics: Lava 3M crowns are made from premium monolithic ceramic, featuring natural colors with perfect tooth striations. Importantly, they do not oxidize or darken at the gum line over time, giving you a bright, healthy, and long-lasting smile.
Second, strong durability: Lava 3M crowns can withstand forces 8–9 times higher than natural teeth. This is due to the ceramic being continuously fired at high temperatures. Additionally, the outer surface is layered with premium ceramic, ensuring firm chewing and excellent bite sensitivity.
Third, long lifespan: One of the notable advantages of Lava 3M crowns is their high durability. On average, the crowns last up to 15 years, and with proper care, they can last even longer.
Fourth, biocompatibility: Made entirely of ceramic with no impurities, Lava 3M crowns have high biocompatibility. You don’t have to worry about compatibility with natural teeth or causing irritation or damage to other areas in the oral cavity.
Disadvantages:
The only drawback of Lava 3M crowns is their relatively high cost, which can be a barrier for those with lower income or unstable financial conditions.

Which Cases Require Lava 3M Crowns?

Lava 3M crowns represent a breakthrough in cosmetic dentistry, providing a “rescue solution” for patients with dental defects and helping them regain confidence. The following cases are suitable for Lava 3M crowns:
  •  Chipped or severely damaged teeth that cannot be treated with standard fillings. In this case, crowning provides a comprehensive solution, ensuring long-lasting durability and preventing detachment issues common with conventional fillings.
  •  Teeth stained or discolored due to antibiotics, where whitening treatments are ineffective or not applicable. Crowning in this situation ensures optimal aesthetics.
  •  Teeth with dead pulp that are prone to fracture. Lava 3M crowns protect the natural tooth core while maintaining chewing function.
  •  Additionally, in cases of tooth loss where only the root remains, Lava 3M crowns can restore aesthetics and provide strength to the dental arch.

Lava 3M Crown Procedure

Typically, the process of placing Lava 3M crowns involves the following steps:
Step 1: Take X-rays and perform a general dental examination

At this step, the dentist will take X-rays and examine your mouth to determine if there are any existing dental issues. If any are found, they will be fully treated before placing the crown to ensure the best results after restoration.

The patient will have a treatment plan created by the dentist and have the tooth shape designed using DSD 3D software. At the same time, using this software, the patient can preview the expected results after the crown placement, ensuring complete peace of mind.

This is also a particularly important step in the Lava 3M crown procedure. The dentist will clean and disinfect the oral cavity to prevent bacterial infiltration during the crown placement.

Based on precise calculations, the dentist will perform tooth preparation. Shaping the tooth takes approximately 30 minutes, but this procedure requires high precision and must be carried out by a highly skilled professional.
After the tooth is prepared, an impression will be taken to fabricate your custom-made crown. While waiting for the permanent crown, temporary teeth will be provided to allow normal chewing and maintain aesthetics.
After approximately 24 hours, once the permanent crown is ready, the dentist will have you return to the clinic to fit the crown. The dentist will check whether the crown is correct in terms of bite, color, and aesthetics on your dental arch.
Additionally, you will be guided on how to care for your teeth and schedule follow-up appointments to monitor the crown’s compatibility and overall oral health.

Lava 3M crown price list at QUINN Dental

Each dental clinic may have different prices for crowns. At QUINN Dental, the prices for Lava 3M crowns are as follows:
  •  Lava 3M Plus: 8 million VND per tooth (price excludes promotions)
  •  Lava Esthetic: 10 million VND per tooth (price excludes promotions)
Compared to many other types of crowns, Lava 3M is more expensive. This is understandable as Lava 3M offers superior features compared to many other ceramic lines.
Currently, there are many advertisements for cheap Lava 3M crowns. You should be cautious of these “too good to be true” offers, as using crowns of unknown origin may affect oral health or a poorly skilled dentist could cause complications later.
At QUINN Dental, we commit to providing genuine Lava 3M crowns, directly imported from 3M Company. The crowns come with a 15-year warranty from the manufacturer and a lifetime reputable warranty at QUINN Dental. Therefore, you can be completely confident when getting Lava 3M crowns here.

Warranty Policy for Lava 3M Crowns

The warranty policy is also an important factor to consider when deciding to get Lava 3M crowns. Currently, Lava 3M crowns come with a 15-year warranty. When you have your crowns done, you will receive a physical warranty card that includes the card number, customer name, card validity period, and information about the crown type.
Nowadays, all types of crowns come with a warranty card and traceable origin, so you can rest assured about their authenticity and quality.

How to choose the shape and color of Lava 3M crowns for the most beautiful results

Choosing the shape and color of crowns is a step that maximizes the aesthetic of your smile. During the consultation at QUINN Dental, Dr. Trang will provide guidance on crown shape and color based on the client’s preferences, facial features, and modern aesthetic standards.
Here’s how to select the most suitable and beautiful shape and color using Lava 3M crowns:

6.1. Choosing the shape:

  • Based on facial proportions such as shape: oval, square, round, diamond… the expert will choose the crown shape that harmonizes best with the face. Common shapes include: oval teeth, rabbit teeth, fang teeth, square teeth… these are especially popular among QUINN Dental clients.
  • Based on age and gender: This is an important factor to help the expert visualize the crown’s shape to be crafted.
  • Based on personal style and character: The expert will create highlights on the necessary teeth positions accordingly.

6.2. Choosing the color:

  • Based on skin tone: When performing crown aesthetics, QUINN Dental experts will advise on crown colors that enhance your natural skin and lip color. The crowns will have a bright white shade, natural crown vein details, and translucency and shine similar to real teeth.
  • Based on eye color: A small but important detail is that the crown color should not be whiter than the iris.
  • Based on the remaining teeth: To create depth in the smile line, the color shade, specifically the whiteness, should gradually decrease from the front teeth to the back teeth.
  • Based on age and profession: Depending on age and profession, the expert will recommend a crown color that matches accordingly.

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