CEREC® Materials vs. Traditional Dental Lab: What Every Dentist Should Know Before Choosing

Published by CAD/CAM Center Miami | Educational Series

If you've been considering CEREC® technology for your practice but aren't sure how its materials stack up against what your dental lab delivers, this guide is for you.

The question isn't whether CEREC® materials are good — the science is clear on that. The real question is: what are you giving up by not using them?

Let's break it down.

What Are CEREC® Materials?

CEREC® chairside systems mill restorations directly from prefabricated ceramic blocks. Over the past four decades, these materials have evolved dramatically. Today, three main categories dominate clinical use:

1. Feldspathic Ceramic (e.g., CEREC Blocs)

The original CEREC® material. Ideal for inlays, onlays, and veneers where esthetics are the priority. Excellent optical properties, highly translucent, and easy to adjust chairside. Best suited for anterior restorations and low-stress posterior situations.

2. Lithium Disilicate (e.g., IPS e.max® CAD, CEREC Tessera®)

The current gold standard for chairside CAD/CAM. IPS e.max® CAD demonstrates an average survival rate of 95.2% over a period of up to 15 years — a benchmark that rivals lab-fabricated ceramic restorations. Blocks are milled in a pre-crystallized (blue) state for easy machining, then crystallized chairside in as little as 14 minutes with a SpeedFire furnace. Indicated for crowns, onlays, veneers, and anterior/posterior single units.

3. Zirconia-Reinforced Lithium Silicate (e.g., Celtra Duo®)

This material exhibits increased flexural strength and chameleon-like aesthetics compared with standard lithium disilicate, with no additional crystallization step required after milling — making it one of the fastest chairside workflows available.

4. PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate)

Used primarily for long-term provisionals and implant-supported restorations. Not a final material, but invaluable for complex cases requiring temporization while the definitive plan is confirmed.

The Traditional Lab Workflow: What You're Actually Comparing

When a dentist sends a case to the lab, the typical workflow involves:

1. Physical impression or digital scan sent to the lab
2. Model fabrication and die preparation
3. Wax-up or digital design
4. Material selection, pressing or milling, layering
5. Glazing and staining
6. Return shipping and second appointment for cementation

Turnaround: typically 7–14 business days. During this time, the patient wears a temporary restoration, which carries its own set of clinical risks (debonding, sensitivity, fracture, patient dissatisfaction).

CEREC® Materials vs. Lab: The Honest Comparison

Clinical Outcomes

The evidence supports chairside CAD/CAM as a legitimate clinical alternative. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that the biological, technical, and aesthetic behaviors showed similar clinical outcomes between CAD/CAM and conventional groups, with lithium disilicate showing notably strong clinical performance.

A 2025 retrospective cohort study comparing zirconia and lithium disilicate restorations over 5 years found cumulative survival rates of 94% and 89% respectively — with no statistically significant difference between the two materials in survival rates or technical complications.

In short: properly executed chairside restorations are clinically equivalent to lab work for the vast majority of single-unit indications.

Esthetics

This is where many dentists hesitate. The assumption is that a skilled ceramist at a lab will always produce a more esthetic result. For highly complex anterior cases with demanding esthetic requirements, that may still be true.

But for the bulk of everyday restorations — posterior crowns, onlays, inlays, and standard anterior cases — a well-executed CEREC® crown equals the quality and appearance of a well-done lab-fabricated crown.

Modern lithium disilicate blocks offer a wide shade range, multiple translucency levels (LT, MT, HT), and can be individualized with stains and glazes chairside before final crystallization.

Speed: The Undeniable Advantage

This is where CEREC® has no competition.

• Traditional lab: 7–14 days + 2 patient appointments
• CEREC® chairside: same-day delivery, single appointment possible

The chairside process using CEREC® avoids the final impression process, temporization process, and second dental appointment generally required to complete high-strength all-ceramic crowns from a dental laboratory.

For your patients, that means one anesthesia episode, no temporaries to manage, and a permanent restoration they walk out with the same day. For your practice, that means improved scheduling efficiency and a clear differentiator in your market.

Material Consistency

One underappreciated advantage of CAD/CAM blocks is manufacturing consistency. CAD/CAM approach has been introduced in dentistry as a precise, efficient, accurate and error-free tool to produce high-quality dental restorations, as opposed to the traditional way of manual manufacture, which is prone to numerous subjective errors.

Every block comes from a controlled industrial process. There are no voids, no porosity variations, and no technician-dependent inconsistencies in the core material.

Cost to the Practice

This is where the math becomes compelling over time. Lab fees for a PFM or all-ceramic crown typically range from $80–$200+ per unit depending on the lab and material. With chairside CAD/CAM:

• You control material costs (blocks typically range from $15–$40 per unit depending on material and supplier)
• You eliminate shipping and handling delays
• You recapture the lab margin
• You eliminate the cost of provisional materials and the clinical time to fabricate and cement them

When Should You Still Use the Lab?

CEREC® is not the answer for every case. There are situations where lab fabrication remains the better choice:

• Multi-unit bridges beyond 3 units — though CAD/CAM bridge blocks exist, complex span cases still favor lab workflow
• Full-mouth reconstructions requiring extensive vertical dimension changes and precise occlusal calibration
• Highly complex anterior esthetic cases where individual layering by a skilled ceramist adds clinical value the patient has explicitly prioritized
• Implant-supported full-arch cases with screw-retained components requiring milled titanium frameworks

For everything else — and that includes the majority of restorative dentistry done in a general practice — CEREC® materials are fully capable.

The Material Selector: Quick Reference

Ready to Stock Your CEREC® System?

If your practice already uses CEREC® technology — or you're evaluating it — having the right materials inventory matters. At CAD/CAM Center Miami, we carry the blocks used in the workflows described in this guide:

• CEREC® Blue Blocks — Lithium Disilicate (Qty: 5) — Pre-crystallized lithium disilicate for standard chairside milling workflows. Compatible with MCXL and MC X5 milling units.
• CEREC® LiSi Fully Crystallized Blocks — C14 (Qty: 5) — Fully crystallized lithium disilicate. No post-milling firing required. Ideal for practices optimizing single-visit workflow speed.

Both ship free in 2 business days on orders over $100. Browse the full CEREC® Supplies & Accessories catalog for burs, accessories, and more.

References

1. Aswal GS, et al. Clinical Outcomes of CAD/CAM (Lithium disilicate and Zirconia) Based and Conventional Full Crowns and Fixed Partial Dentures: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Cureus. 2023. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.37888
2. Topdagi B, et al. Comparison of Long-Term Clinical Outcomes of Zirconia and Lithium Disilicate Prostheses: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Biomimetics. 2025. DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics10110740
3. Ivoclar USA. IPS e.max CAD — Clinical Documentation. ivoclar.com/en_us
4. Ionescu AM, et al. Evaluation of the Surface Properties of Three CAD/CAM Ceramics: A Comparative In Vitro Study. Dentistry Journal. 2025. DOI: 10.3390/dj13120550
5. Davidowitz G, Kotick PG. The Use of CAD/CAM in Dentistry. Dent Clin North Am. 2011. PMC4402686
6. Levin L, et al. Restoring Teeth with an Advanced Lithium Disilicate Ceramic: A Case Report and 1-Year Follow-Up. PMC9507783

CAD/CAM Center Miami is a certified pre-owned CEREC® equipment reseller serving dental professionals across the United States. This article is intended for educational purposes.