Zirconium is increasingly becoming the material of choice for dental crowns. It is an extremely robust material able to withstand the wear and tear of everyday use. More importantly however, it has a translucency that is very similar to a natural tooth. Light is reflected from a Zirconium crown in much the same way.
With properties similar to ceramic porcelain, Zirconia is an extremely strong material. Zirconia has replaced metal as the material of choice in hip replacement surgeries. In breakage tests, the materials are consistently proven to be more durable than there all ceramic counterparts, unfortunately they are still not as strong as the Porcelain fused to metal crowns.
Zirconia of Zirconium Oxide is a white powdered metal used to create debate frameworks for crowns, bridges and other debate substructures. Dental crowns made of zirconium oxide are called zirconium crowns. Zirconia is 100% biocompatible and is virtually indestructible whereas Porcelain crowns are prone to chipping.