Zirconia is another name for zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), an oxide of the metal zirconium.
Zirconia blocks and discs are used by dental laboratories to mill zirconia copings, frameworks or full contour zirconia crowns and bridges. These blocks are formed under pressure from zirconium oxide powder stabilized with yttria, plus additional additives for bonding and translucency. This amazingly strong and biocompatible space-age material has been in use for nearlytwo dozen years in some of the and other industrial and medical applications (ie. Hundreds of thousands of hip joints replacements).
Zirconia restorations offer function, esthetics, longevity, and gingival health, and the restoration of choice for nearly all cosmetic dentists today because they are metal free, esthetically translucent, and stronger than ANY other restoration material. A zirconia restoration is metal free. Some patients prefer not to put any metals into their bodies, which tend to *leach off* from some metal restorations and enter surrounding tissues and the blood stream.

                           Nano zirconium oxide powder

                    yittria stablized