Then and Now: How Crowns Went From Hammered Gold to Zirconia

Every crown material on your Rx pad fixed someone else's failure. Porcelain cracked on metal until a 1962 patent matched the two. Layered zirconia chipped, so labs moved to full-contour zirconia. Knowing which problem each solved makes choosing easier.

This is part 3 of our Then and Now series. Part 1 tracked what dental care cost and part 2 who paid for it. This one follows how crowns were made, from an 1873 gold crown patent to AI-assisted design in 2026.

Quick Answer

Crowns went from hammered gold to Beers' gold shell crown (1873), Land's porcelain jacket crown (1889) and lost-wax castings (Taggart, 1907). Porcelain fused to metal was patented in 1962. Duret began dental CAD/CAM work in 1971, the first chairside CEREC inlay followed in 1985, IPS e.max launched in 2005 and full-contour zirconia spread in the 2010s. A 2026 review found lithium disilicate and zirconia crowns matching metal-ceramic survival at five years.

How Were Crowns Made Before 1900?

In his patent of November 4, 1873, San Francisco dentist John B. Beers described the usual way to restore a broken-down tooth: gold condensed with a hammer until it took the tooth's shape. He called it costly, difficult and tedious, and wrote that the hammering frequently caused periosteal inflammation. His answer was a hollow gold shell shaped like a tooth, slipped over the old tooth and secured with a gold screw and cement.

Charles H. Land patented the all-porcelain "jacket" crown in 1889. Internal microcracking kept it from being strong, but after later improvements it was used extensively until the 1950s.

How Did Casting Change Crown Making After 1907?

In 1907, Chicago dentist William H. Taggart patented an apparatus for making molds to cast dental fillings (US 865,823). In his lost-wax method, a purified wax pattern is invested and heated until the wax vaporizes completely, and metal is cast into the space. Lost-wax metal copings later addressed the jacket crown's marginal fit problems, and impression, model, wax-up and casting stayed the standard metal workflow into the CAD/CAM era.

For removables, Walter Wright introduced polymethyl methacrylate (acrylic) as a denture base in 1937, and by 1946 it was one of the most used denture materials, closing the vulcanite era.

What Changed in the 1950s and 1960s?

The belt-driven handpiece of 1938 ran at about 2,000 rpm, and by 1950, 6,500 rpm was standard. In 1957, Washington, DC dentist John Borden filed a patent for the Airotor, an air-turbine handpiece with bur speeds of 250,000 rpm that, in the words of the University of the Pacific's dental museum, utterly changed the pace of the profession. The first Certified Dental Technician exams came in October 1958.

Porcelain on metal came next. Abraham Weinstein developed the porcelain-fused-to-metal crown in the late 1950s. The patent, filed in 1959 by Weinstein, Katz and Weinstein and issued September 11, 1962, names the problem: earlier low-fusing porcelains fused to gold alloys failed because of the disparity in expansion coefficients. Matching the porcelain to the alloy let a thin layer be used without cracking, though the opaque layer that hides the metal cost some esthetics.

When Did CAD/CAM Arrive?

A 2009 review credits three pioneers. Duret began in 1971 to make crowns from an optical impression, a computer design and a numerically controlled mill. Werner Mörmann in Zurich aimed at chairside ceramic restorations in a single appointment: the first CEREC inlay was made on September 19, 1985, Siemens took on production in 1986, and by June 1987 a German private practice was seating CEREC inlays at the same appointment. The third, Andersson, used CAD/CAM to make titanium copings after soaring gold prices in the early 1980s made nickel-chromium a common substitute and allergies followed. His Procera alumina core of the mid-1990s was the first CAD/CAM crown substructure, and milled zirconia frameworks came next.

How Did E.max and Monolithic Zirconia Take Over?

Ivoclar launched the IPS e.max family, including the lithium disilicate glass-ceramics IPS e.max Press and CAD, in 2005, and says more than 230 million e.max restorations have been made, based on its sales.

First-generation zirconia was strong but opaque, so it served as a framework under layered porcelain, and its long-term failure rates, mainly from chipping, ran higher than for metal-core crowns. A 2015 systematic review found 92.1% five-year survival for zirconia single crowns, more losses to veneer fractures than metal-ceramic, and concluded that zirconia crowns should not be a primary option. The fix was to stop layering: zirconia is now increasingly made in monolithic form, and newer 4Y and 5Y grades trade some strength for translucency. See our zirconia vs. e.max guide.

Crown Making Timeline, 1873 to 2026

What Does Crown Making Look Like in 2026?

Scans instead of trays

Cadent introduced the iTero digital impression system in 2006 and a next-generation version in 2007; the scan went to a partner lab, and Cadent milled the model. 3Shape launched TRIOS in 2011 and says it was the first powder-free intraoral scanner. See Is an Intraoral Scanner Worth It?

Printed definitive crowns

FDA has cleared 3D-printing resins for permanent crowns through 510(k): one in June 2020 (K201668), whose summary states that no clinical data were included, and another in April 2026 (K260661), whose summary lists biocompatibility and bench testing. Clearance is not long-term clinical evidence.

AI-assisted design

exocad's DentalCAD 3.3, released in October 2025, added AI-enabled design for up to three adjacent posterior crowns and three-unit posterior bridges, according to the company. A 2026 meta-analysis of 17 studies found AI-designed crowns clinically acceptable in shape, fit and occlusal contacts, with design time 25 to 50% shorter; the evidence was mostly in vitro, and technician refinement still helped in complex cases. Another 2026 in vitro study found AI saved 8 to 15 minutes per design but did not improve margins or occlusal contacts.

Then vs Now: How Long Does a Crown Take?

No reliable record says how many days a lab spent on a crown in 1920 or 1960. Trials do measure technician time, conventional versus digital.

Bridge data: Mühlemann et al., 2019. Implant crown data: Joda and Brägger, 2016, where both workflows needed two clinical appointments. Chairside CAD/CAM was designed to need one. At our lab, the standard turnaround on most restorative cases is 5 business days, with rush options available.

Do Today's Crowns Last Longer?

Three systematic reviews of tooth-supported single crowns by the same research group show the shift. They pooled different studies, so read the trend.

The 2026 review found monolithic lithium disilicate and monolithic zirconia crowns had significantly fewer ceramic fractures and chips than veneered alternatives.

Elegant Dental Laboratory

We are a full-service dental lab at 2308 McDonald Ave in Brooklyn, founded in 2007 by Gary Fingerman. More than 35 technicians make every case in our 7,000 sq. ft. facility, with no outsourcing.

• Crowns and bridges: zirconia (solid, 9-layer, solid with buccal porcelain, coping with layered porcelain), IPS e.max, PFM in base and precious alloys, and implant restorations.
• Turnaround and warranty: 5 business days standard on most restorative cases, rush options available; up to a 7-year warranty on final restorations and up to 20 years on screw-retained implant abutments. See policies and warranties.
• Getting cases to us: digital scans are reviewed before production (submit a digital case). Our own drivers pick up cases in the New York area (call to confirm availability), and we provide UPS shipping labels for practices anywhere. Send a case or call 877-335-5221.

More From the Then and Now Series

• Part 4: Dentures in America, Then and Now: From Hippopotamus Ivory to Digital Dentures
• Part 5: The American Dental Lab, Then and Now: From Back Rooms to Digital Workflows

Related guide: Types of Zirconia Explained: 3Y, 4Y, 5Y, Multilayer, Monolithic and Layered.

FAQ

When was the gold crown patented?

John B. Beers of San Francisco received US patent 144,182 on November 4, 1873, for a hollow gold crown.

When was the porcelain-fused-to-metal crown invented?

Abraham Weinstein developed it in the late 1950s. The patent, US 3,052,982, was filed in 1959 and issued on September 11, 1962.

Are all-ceramic crowns as durable as PFM now?

For lithium disilicate and zirconia, yes at five years. A 2026 review found 98.5% survival for monolithic lithium disilicate, 96.8% for monolithic zirconia and 97.1% for metal-ceramic single crowns.

Are 3D-printed permanent crowns FDA cleared?

Some printing resins are cleared for permanent crowns, including K201668 (2020) and K260661 (2026), based on non-clinical testing rather than long-term clinical trials.

Does AI design crowns now?

It proposes designs. Studies show 25 to 50% shorter design time, mostly in vitro, and technicians still refine margins and occlusion.

Then and Now series by Elegant Dental Laboratory, Brooklyn, New York. Reviewed by Gary Fingerman, founder and CEO. Last reviewed: September 27, 2026.