Companion engineering and manufacturing processes (cemp) to optimize multi-layered zirconia crowns

A method of manufacturing a dental restoration comprising the steps of:

• providing a structural body for the restoration that includes at least one support structure located along a side wall of the structural body at a location spaced from, but generally near, an occlusal end of the substructure body;
• veneering the structural body with veneering material having an ideal thermal expansion coefficient that is generally ≦1.0×10−6/° C. of the structural body material to form a first modifier layer;
• and
• veneering the structural body with one or more successive layers of veneering material;
• firing said veneering layers at an ideal temperature that is preferably slightly less than the recommended high firing temperature;
• withdrawing the structural body from said firing step through a rapid cool-down protocol.