A BioHpp bridge is a fairly good replacement for a long zirconia bridge. So far, this kind of restoration is not widely used. Yet, it has a great potential because of its remarkable benefits. Here, I would like to compare a long zirconia bridge to a BioHpp bridge. So you will know how to make a choice.
What is Zirconia?
Zirconia is one of the all-ceramic restorations. It is strong, biocompatible and natural looking. In the past (over 10 years ago), a zirconia crown was expensive, because it was totally made by hands. But with the development of technology, we now widely employ machines, and mill zirconia crowns and bridges in just over 10 minutes or so. So this dental restoration is much cheaper and is frequently used in the present dentistry. If patients have one or several prepared teeth, a zirconia crown or a bridge is a great solution. In terms of translucency, it is quite close to an E-max crown. However, E-max is not suitable for a bridge that consists of over 3 units.
Suppose a senior patient has too many missing teeth, and requires a long bridge (over 8 units). A zirconia bridge is definitely not a good choice, because it is fragile with such a length. It is easy to break due to lack of support from prepared teeth. On the other hand, a long zirconia bridge is very heavy. With such a length, it is even hard for the patient to retain the bridge. Within months or weeks, it is common that the bridge would fall off.
What is BioHPP?
A bridge with BioHpp material is a great alternative to a long zirconia bridge. It is a material from Germany. The inner coping is BioHpp, while the outer coating is Composite material. BioHPP is tough, biocompatible, natural looking and super lightweight. So far, we cannot produce such a material. Therefore, the price is still high. But when we compare a PFM Precious crown, the price for a BioHpp crown is just not much.
First, it is extremely lightweight. Judging from its appearance, it seems to be a piece of paper. If a bridge is not heavy at all, the patient would virtually feel nothing. Patients feel comfortable when they are resting or even dining. For example, a 12-unit zirconia bridge weighs 22.91 Grams. Yet, a 15-unit bridge with BioHpp material only weighs 2.37 Grams. It is very lightweight, making it easy to attach the bridge to the only few prepared teeth without falling off.
Second, it is strong and firm. In a sense, we can say it is even stronger than zirconia, highly suitable for a long bridge. So far, we have not seen a broken BioHpp bridge, and we have not heard of any unpleasant experience about this dental restoration.
A Recent Case with BioHPP Bridge
Let’s look at a recent case. The patient is an 85 years old Chinese man. He has lost 8 teeth on the lower jaw. At the beginning, his family wanted to choose implant cases. However, he is not young any more, though he looks very healthy. The problem for the implant system was that the whole process would take at least half a year. What is more, the patient would have to bleed, and afterwards, take good care of the wounds. A long zirconia bridge would not do the work, either. It would be just too heavy and fragile.
Under this circumstance, the dentist introduced BioHpp to the family. After they learned its benefits, they were excited to try it. The lab time was only 5 days, and it took several hours to put the bridge into the patient’s mouth. The whole process was simple and quick. According to the patient, the happiest thing for this year was to have this lower bridge. Now he is quite used to this bridge.
In conclusion, BioHpp is indeed a great replacement for a long zirconia bridge, because it’s lightweight, durable, esthetically appealing, strong and biocompatible. With the development of technologies, I think the cost for BioHpp would drop gradually, so did as zirconia. Especially one day, if Chinese companies can produce such material, this restoration will become popular worldwide. Let’s hope for this better future.
