What You Can Order
Single CoCr Full Cast Crowns
Full-coverage crowns for molars and premolars, made from your intraoral scan or your impression.
Full Cast Bridges
Posterior bridges with solid metal connectors and one alloy from abutment to abutment. For spans of five units or more, we review the design with you before production. At that length, abutment bone support, connector size, bite force and lateral loading start to decide the outcome.
Surveyed Crowns for Partial Dentures
Crowns shaped to fit your partial denture plan, with the rest seats, guide planes and survey contours built in. Send the survey line, the abutment undercut measurements and the framework design, including where the clasps, rests and connectors go, and we'll contour the crown to match.
Ni-Cr Non-Precious Full Cast Crowns
Would you rather use nickel-chromium? We make that too. Write "Ni-Cr" or "CoCr" on the Rx so there's no guesswork about which non-precious full cast crown you'll get.
When a CoCr Full Cast Crown Is the Right Call
For a posterior crown, the material choice mostly comes down to three questions: how much room you have, how hard the patient bites, and whether anyone will see the tooth. A cobalt chrome crown makes sense when room and bite force matter more than looks.
- Limited occlusal clearance or short clinical crowns. Of all the crowns we make, metal needs the least tooth reduction. It's often the material that still works when space runs out.
- Heavy bite and bruxism. For heavy bites we make the occlusal surface even and flat, with broad contacts that spread the load. As with any restoration under heavy load, plan regular follow-up.
- Badly broken-down or cracked posterior teeth. When partial coverage can't do the job, a CoCr full cast crown gives the highest toughness and impact resistance of any crown material we offer.
- Partial denture abutments. Proper survey contours are often impractical to get by reshaping enamel alone. A cast crown builds them in, which is why standard complete cast crown guidance lists partial denture support as an indication.
- Second molars and teeth outside the smile line. If the tooth doesn't show, you don't have to give up strength to get a better shade.
When to Choose Something Else
- Teeth that show when the patient smiles. Choose zirconia or E.max instead.
- Teeth with an intact buccal or lingual wall. A more conservative restoration, such as an onlay, may do the job.
- Patients who won't accept a metal color. Monolithic zirconia is the strong, tooth-colored alternative.
- Patients with a known allergy to cobalt, chromium or another alloy element. Check the alloy composition first (see the alloy section below).
Metal, Zirconia or PFM?
- Monolithic zirconia. Tooth-colored and strong. It suits molars, heavy bites and tight space when the patient wants white, but needs a little more reduction than metal.
- PFM. A metal coping under porcelain. It needs the most reduction of the three, and a dark line can show at the gingival margin. When space is tight, a PFM with a metal occlusal surface is a middle option.
- E.max. The most translucent of the group. It needs enough thickness, so use it with care on posterior teeth and on bruxers.
Why Metal Holds Up in Thin Sections
The answer is stiffness. Cobalt-chromium alloys have an elastic modulus of roughly 200–220 GPa, compared with 81–90 GPa for a Type IV gold alloy, according to a review of the physical and mechanical properties of Co-Cr alloys. A stiffer alloy flexes less, so it keeps its shape even in thin sections. That's how a CoCr full cast crown can stay thin at the occlusal surface and the margin without losing strength.
There's no porcelain layer either. The surface we polish in the lab is the surface the patient chews on, so there's nothing to chip.
The trade-off is hardness. The ADA's overview of materials for indirect restorations notes that base metal alloys are more technique-sensitive because they're harder and stiffer than other alloys. In practice, adjusting a cobalt chrome crown chairside can take longer than adjusting gold. After you adjust, work back through finer polishers until the surface is glossy again.
Base Metal Crown, Known Alloy: What's Actually in the Crown
On a lab slip, "base metal crown" and "non-precious crown" can each mean more than one alloy. Nickel-chromium and cobalt-chromium are the two most common base alloys, according to the ADA. In the US, both are coded the same way: D2791, crown – full cast predominantly base metal, meaning less than 25% noble metal. The code doesn't tell you which alloy is in the crown. The paperwork does.
Our Standard: Nickel-Free, Beryllium-Free CoCr
Our standard alloy is mostly cobalt and chromium, with additions such as molybdenum or tungsten for strength. It's what you get unless the Rx says Ni-Cr. The same review linked above reports that Co-Cr alloys resist corrosion and tarnish better than Ni-Cr alloys.
A Certificate for Every Case
On request, each case comes with the alloy's brand, country of origin, batch number and material certificate, all in English. If your market requires one, we can also supply an English declaration of custom-made device.
No Silent Swaps
We never change the material you prescribed without asking. If a change is needed, we explain why and wait for your OK, written or verbal. Every change is recorded on the work ticket with the date.
Nickel-free doesn't mean allergy-free. Cobalt can cause type IV hypersensitivity, and reactions to cobalt in cast crowns have been reported in the systematic review of toxicological risks of cobalt-chromium dental alloys. If a patient has a known metal sensitivity, compare the composition on our certificate with the patient's test results, and choose the alloy or material together. We'll make whatever you specify, including our noble alloys. [link: SP / High Precious Full Cast Crown page]
Prep and Rx Guide for a Cobalt Chrome Crown
A base metal crown is forgiving, but a few details decide whether it seats the first time. The preparation values below are general clinical guidance from the complete cast crown preparation chapter. They're not Istar requirements, and your clinical judgment comes first.
- Occlusal reduction. Allow at least 1.5 mm on functional cusps (buccal on mandibular teeth, lingual on maxillary teeth), with a functional cusp bevel. Allow at least 1.0 mm on nonfunctional cusps.
- Margin. Prepare a smooth, distinct chamfer that leaves about 0.5 mm of metal at the margin, supragingival where possible. A feather edge also works with metal.
- Retention. Keep the axial walls close to the recommended 6° taper. On short walls, add grooves or boxes.
- Tight space. On the Rx, write "occlusal space inadequate" and note how much clearance is left, so we can design to it from the start.
- Scans. STL from any open intraoral scanner is all a CoCr full cast crown needs. That includes 3Shape TRIOS, Medit, iTero, CEREC/Primescan, Shining 3D and Planmeca. Export STL from iTero and CEREC rather than sending their proprietary files. Send the prep arch, the opposing arch and the bite scan as separate files. Scan the opposing arch at least to the last molar, and include the 2–3 teeth next to the prep.
- Clear margins. An unclear margin, or one covered by soft tissue, is the most common reason we ask for a rescan. Retract, dry and scan slowly around the finish line.
How We Make Your CoCr Full Cast Crown
Every step happens in our own labs in Shenzhen and Huizhou, and we don't outsource any of it. Our metal and porcelain finishing team alone is about 70 technicians.
1. Case Review
Before design, a technician checks the Rx against the tooth number, the scan or impression quality and the bite record, and measures the clearance on the model. If something needs your call, such as extra reduction or a large undercut, we contact you before production. If you like, we'll also put a note in the box saying which tooth needs how many millimeters off.
2. CAD Design
We design the anatomy, contacts and occlusion digitally, to the opposing arch and the bite you sent. Want to see the design first? Ask for design approval on the Rx. You can request changes through your case coordinator, and production starts once you sign off. Allow an extra 1–2 days.
3. Casting, Milling or Laser Printing
We make a CoCr full cast crown in one of three ways, matched to the case: lost-wax casting, milling, and selective laser melting (metal printing). Printed units go through stress-relief heat treatment before we remove the supports and finish the surface.
No single route wins on accuracy. A systematic review of manufacturing accuracy for Co-Cr restorations found mean marginal gaps of 69–84 µm across casting, milling and printing, and no technique consistently came out ahead. So we don't trust the method to guarantee the fit. We check the fit on every unit.
4. Finishing and Polishing
Each cobalt chrome crown goes through coarse grinding, fine grinding and polishing pastes. It's then sandblasted or ultrasonically cleaned and steam-cleaned to remove dust and residue. CoCr, Ni-Cr and our noble alloys each have their own sandblasting and polishing equipment, tools and scrap collection, so one alloy never contaminates another.
How We Check Every Crown Before It Ships
Final release belongs to a dedicated QC team that doesn't make restorations. Every CoCr full cast crown gets the same four checks.
- Fit and margins. We seat each crown on the model. The margin gap has to be even, with no lifting or chipped edges, and the fitting surface free of burrs, bumps and porosity.
- Metal defects. We inspect under magnification for porosity, cracks and distortion.
- Contacts and occlusion. We check proximal contacts, then centric, protrusive and lateral movements, and remove any early contacts.
- Against your Rx. We compare the finished crown with the confirmed prescription and design.
95% of cases pass final inspection. Anything that doesn't is reworked before it leaves. After delivery, clients send back 2–3% of cases for remakes. That's a separate measure from the inspection pass rate. If a question comes up later, we can trace a case back to its alloy batch, its design and the technicians who made it.
Seating and Cementing a Base Metal Crown
A CoCr full cast crown on a retentive prep can be cemented conventionally with glass ionomer or zinc polycarboxylate. Resin cement works too.
Consider bonding when retention is short. Dentsply Sirona's crown cementation guidance recommends adhesive cementation for full crowns when the stump is shorter than 4 mm or the preparation angle is greater than 20°. To bond to CoCr, air-abrade the fitting surface and use a metal primer with a functional monomer such as MDP, following the cement maker's instructions.
Working With Istar Dental Lab
Single trial cases are welcome, and an ongoing partnership works best with regular case flow.
- Get the price list. Our sales manager sends the B2B price list. Quotes are itemized to what you ask for, not one bundled price: the unit count sets the base, the material sets the base rate, and design complexity adds to it.
- Send your case. Upload through 3Shape Communicate, Medit Link, your scanner's portal or WeTransfer, or ship impressions and models. You pay inbound shipping on physical impressions and models.
- We confirm and keep you posted. We confirm the number of cases we received. You'll hear from us when a case is received, designed, made, inspected and shipped.
- We make it, with rush when you need it. Clients who send 10 or more cases a month get rush service on any case at no extra charge. We commit to the rush ship date. The arrival date depends on international shipping and customs.
- We ship it back. Istar pays return shipping on every finished case, remakes included.
For Dental Labs
Send us the metal work, or the whole case. We take on design, milling, porcelain, glazing, polishing, repairs and porcelain add-ons. We can ship finished work straight to your client's clinic or any other address you name, though the sender address on the waybill can't be changed. Lab partnerships are set up around a steady monthly case flow, so ask our sales manager what fits your volume.
Registered and Documented
Istar is an FDA-registered establishment, Registration Number 3039441248. You can verify it in the FDA establishment registration and device listing database. We're also registered with the UK MHRA, and our labs run under ISO 13485. For the EU, each CoCr full cast crown is a custom-made device, made under the MDR custom-made device procedure. The alloys we buy come with their manufacturers' CE marking and ISO 10993 biocompatibility documentation.
FAQ: CoCr Full Cast Crown
What if a CoCr full cast crown needs adjusting at try-in?
If the problem can be fixed in the mouth without changing the crown's structure, margins or seating, a chairside adjustment is usually the fastest route. If it affects seating, margin fit, occlusion or retention and can't be corrected chairside, send it back for a remake. You cover the shipping to send the crown or new records to us.
Can we talk through a difficult case in English?
Yes. Our team works in English and can set up a technical case meeting with you to plan the case, answer technical questions or go through compliance documents.
What happens to my cases in peak season?
Confirmed cases keep their place in the schedule. When volume runs high, we add overtime and stagger production steps rather than cut quality checks. If a new order would push past capacity, we'll agree a split shipment or an adjusted date with you up front.
Do your documents meet my country's requirements?
We confirm the destination before we accept a case and follow that country's rules and material standards, including what goes on labels and certificates. If something conflicts, we raise it with you before production. Most countries are covered. A few have special customs requirements for dental devices, and shipments can't go to embargoed or sanctioned regions.
Try Your First CoCr Full Cast Crown
Send us one posterior case and judge the fit, the margins and the paperwork for yourself. Ask for the alloy certificate, and we'll put it in the box.
[Send a Test Case] · [Request the Price List]