How thick should an emax crown be?

Thickness requirements shift depending on the fabrication pathway you choose. Monolithic full-contour e.max pressed or milled from a CAD block performs best when occlusal reduction hits 1.5 mm, with 1.0-1.2 mm on axial walls. That geometry keeps flexural stress well below the material's published 360-500 MPa strength range. Rush prep cases with shallow occlusal reduction are the leading cause of chairside fractures, not material weakness.

For anterior layered cases, the coping needs 0.8 mm minimum. Going thinner introduces elastic deflection under load, which cracks the feldspathic overlay at the coping margin, often months post-delivery. The veneer layer itself should not exceed 1.0 mm to avoid build-up shrinkage stress. Getting the coping-to-overlay ratio dialed in is a planning conversation, not a guess made at the bench.

Scanning or sending a prep model without noting the prep depth is the most common communication gap between the operatory and the lab. Dani Dental technicians review every digital scan for adequate reduction before entering the fabrication queue. Cases flagged short of minimum thickness go back to the doctor with a specific measurement, not a generic rejection, so the correction can happen in one step rather than two.