1243 E Broadway Rd, Tempe AZ · (480) 449-09093433 E Ft Lowell Rd, Tucson AZ · (520) 795-7970
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PROCEDURE

Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crown

Dani Dental has fabricated PFM crowns from its Arizona lab since 1993, holding a remake rate below 2.5% across thousands of units annually. Every PFM ships with the technician's direct line and a documented fit report, so your chair time stays protected.

  • Margins verified against your prescription
  • Pre-paid two-way shipping
  • Talk to the technician who built it
  • Full digital workflow

Every PFM case at Dani Dental runs through a four-stage workflow: prescription intake and margin audit, alloy selection, porcelain build and characterization, and final fit QC before packaging. Margin audit happens before the die is touched. If the impression or scan presents ambiguity at the cervical margin, the assigned technician calls the prescribing doctor the same business day rather than guessing and shipping a questionable unit. That single step eliminates the most common source of PFM remakes before fabrication starts. Alloy selection follows the clinical context stated on the prescription. High-noble alloys (gold content 60% or above) go to cases requiring documented biocompatibility history or where the patient record indicates known metal sensitivities to base-metal components. Semiprecious and base-metal alloys are specified for posterior load-bearing units where cost containment matters to the practice and the esthetic demand is lower. The technician documents the alloy lot number on every case ticket, so traceability runs case-by-case, not batch-by-batch. Porcelain layering follows the Vita Classical and Vita System 3D-Master shade frameworks, cross-referenced against any stump shade photo submitted with the case. For anterior PFMs, the lab accepts intraoral photographs taken under a Dentsply Sirona or Shofu shade lamp for accurate color reference. Without a shade photo on anteriors, the technician flags the case and requests one before proceeding. Porcelain characterization, including incisal translucency modifiers and cervical chroma blending, is completed by hand by the assigned technician, not delegated down to a production assistant. Final QC runs a written checklist: contact tightness, occlusal clearance measurement, margin seat verification on the master die, surface texture and glaze consistency, and metal collarless finish confirmation where specified. The checklist travels inside the case box as a printed fit report. If any item fails the checklist threshold, the unit goes back to the bench. It does not ship. Doctors who submit cases through Dani Dental's online prescription portal receive a digital copy of the fit report on the same day the case ships, giving the clinical team something to reference at the seating appointment before the patient is seated.

HOW IT IS BUILT

From prescription to seated case.

01

Prescription in

Send a scan file or a model with your RX. A technician reads your intent before any design begins.

02

Design & verify

We design to your margin and occlusion, then verify the fit against your prescription before it ships.

03

Build at the bench

Milled, pressed, or hand-layered as the case calls for, finished by a named technician.

04

Back to your chair

Pre-paid shipping returns the case ready to seat, with the technician reachable if anything needs an adjustment.

This is our standard pipeline. The exact steps for Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crown are being detailed and will appear here.

MATERIALS

What goes in the mouth.

The material options for Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crown, from zirconia and lithium disilicate to hand-layered porcelain, are being written up. Ask for a Doctor Kit and a technician will talk through the right choice for your case.

CASE WORK

Judge the work on its result.

Before-and-after case work for Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crown is being photographed at the studio. The best proof is a case of your own. Send one and see the finish on your chair.

Send a case

COMMON QUESTIONS

What dentists ask about Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crown

What alloy options does Dani Dental offer for PFM crowns?
Three tiers: high-noble (60%-plus gold, used when biocompatibility documentation is required or the practice specifies it), semiprecious (palladium-silver base, strong posterior option at lower material cost), and base metal (nickel-chromium or cobalt-chromium, highest strength-to-cost ratio for high-load posterior sites). The assigned technician documents the alloy lot on every case ticket. If you have a preference or a patient history that drives the decision, note it on the prescription and it will be matched.
What is the standard turnaround time for a PFM crown?
Five business days from the day Dani Dental receives the impression or scan and prescription. Priority queue moves cases in 3 business days for an additional fee. The clock starts when the prescription is received and complete, not when the package arrives at the dock. Cases with missing shade information or ambiguous margin scans go on hold until the technician reaches the doctor, which pauses the turnaround clock.
How does Dani Dental handle shade matching on anterior PFM units?
Anterior PFMs are matched to Vita Classical or Vita System 3D-Master shade tabs, cross-referenced against an intraoral shade photo when submitted. Without a photo, the technician contacts the doctor before building any porcelain. Stump shade and cervical chroma blending are noted separately from the body shade. The technician who builds the porcelain is the same technician who reviews the final result, so there is no hand-off between characterization and QC.
What does the fit report that ships with each PFM include?
Contact tightness, occlusal clearance measurement, margin seat verification result, surface texture and glaze consistency pass-fail, and metal collarless finish confirmation where applicable. The report prints inside the case box and is also sent digitally through the online prescription portal on the ship date. It is designed to give the seating team a reference before the patient is in the chair, reducing the discovery-at-seating surprises that eat appointment time.
When should a PFM be specified instead of full-contour zirconia?
PFM remains the correct choice when the prescribing doctor needs documented high-noble biocompatibility for a specific patient record, when the preparation is short and a zirconia thickness minimum cannot be met, or when the practice's restorative protocol specifies metal-supported porcelain for a given tooth position. For cases where esthetics and strength are both high priority and the prep allows it, monolithic zirconia is worth discussing. The Dani Dental technician assigned to the case is available by phone to work through material selection before the case is submitted.
How does Dani Dental handle remakes on PFM crowns?
If a unit ships from Dani Dental and does not seat correctly due to a fabrication error confirmed on the case ticket and fit report, Dani Dental remakes it without a remake fee and prioritizes it in the 3-day queue. The technician who made the original unit reviews the failed case before the remake begins. If the failure traces to the impression or scan rather than bench fabrication, the technician discusses the finding with the doctor and the remake is quoted at standard rate. The lab's documented remake rate across all PFM units runs below 2.5% on a rolling 12-month basis.
Can Dani Dental accept digital impressions for PFM cases?
Yes. Intraoral scans from iTero, 3Shape TRIOS, Carestream, and Dentsply Sirona Primescan are accepted through the online prescription portal. The scan file is reviewed by the assigned technician before fabrication begins. PFM cases from digital scans follow the same 5-day standard turnaround. Margin clarity on the scan is reviewed at intake; if the margin read is ambiguous, the technician contacts the submitting doctor the same business day.
Does Dani Dental offer metal-collarless PFM fabrication?
Yes. Metal-collarless (shoulder porcelain) PFM units are available and must be specified on the prescription. The technique requires a clean, defined shoulder margin on the preparation to execute correctly. The technician reviews the margin on intake specifically for shoulder-porcelain eligibility. If the margin profile does not support the collarless build, the technician flags it before fabrication and contacts the doctor to confirm the path forward.

REQUEST A DOCTOR KIT

Send us a Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crown case.

Request a Doctor Kit and we will mail RX pads, a shade guide, and pre-paid shipping. Run your first cases through the studio and judge the result on your own chair.

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