How to Remove a Zirconia Crown: Burs, Sectioning Time and Protecting the Tooth

Sooner or later a zirconia crown has to come off: recurrent caries at the margin, a tooth that now needs endodontic treatment, a crown that never fully seated. Then the bur skates and dulls, the appointment runs long, and every extra pass risks gouging the preparation the replacement will need.

Below: why zirconia resists cutting, which burs cut it fastest in studies, a published sectioning technique, how to make the next removal easier, where lasers stand, and what to send the lab.

Quick Answer

Section it rather than pulling it. With a new coarse or zirconia-specific diamond, copious water and light pressure, cut a slot from the mid-buccal margin across the occlusal surface (over the incisal edge on anterior teeth), through the zirconia but not into dentin, then torque a crown-splitting instrument in the slot. Lab studies put this at about 2 to 3 minutes per crown, and burs slow with each crown. Erbium lasers can debond some crowns intact.

Why Is Zirconia So Hard to Section?

Zirconia is harder and tougher than the other crown ceramics. In a 2016 lab study, a zirconia (Cercon) measured 1,641.7 HV Vickers hardness and 6.6 MPa·m½ fracture toughness; IPS e.max CAD measured 676.7 HV and 2.8 MPa·m½ (Homaei et al., 2016). An earlier study found feldspathic porcelains, the veneer of a PFM, under 2 MPa·m½, against 2.8 for lithium disilicate and 4.9 for zirconia (Quinn et al., 2003). On a PFM, the diamond only cuts the porcelain; a carbide bur then cuts the metal coping (Kurtzman, 2020).

Zirconia also wears the bur: in a crown-sectioning study, every diamond lost diamond particles with each crown (Borzangy et al., 2024). That study used 5Y zirconia; in a laser study, 3Y crowns took 12.46 minutes to remove against 4.03 for 5Y (Suliman et al., 2024). See types of zirconia.

Which Burs Cut Zirconia Fastest, and How Many Do You Need?

Few studies compare burs on zirconia, and setups differ; read each row as one lab result.

Every bur slowed with use. In the crown study, each bur sectioned three crowns: a new bur needed 130.4 to 161.6 s for a 5Y crown and 191.2 to 196.8 s on its third (Borzangy et al., 2024). Keeling's group concluded that single-use burs should be strongly considered for zirconia removal. Both point to a new bur for each zirconia crown, with a spare at hand. Across seven materials, including zirconium oxide, an electric handpiece cut more efficiently overall than an air turbine (Choi et al., 2010).

How Do You Section the Crown Without Damaging the Tooth?

A review of removal techniques calls cutting a slot and prying the crown loose the safest and least traumatic method, at the cost of the crown (Bajunaid, 2017). The steps below follow a technique article whose author was compensated by SS White, maker of the bur it names (Kurtzman, 2020).

1. Water and light pressure

The study crowns were cut with 40 mL/min of coolant (Borzangy et al., 2024). On implants, water protects bone: drilling through or sectioning zirconia crowns raised the implant temperature by 3.59 °C with irrigation and 18.76 °C without, and without irrigation the maximum exceeded the thermal injury threshold at the coronal aspect of the implant (Mason et al., 2014).

2. Buccal slot, then occlusal

Start mid-buccal at the margin and move the diamond parallel to its long axis in a sawing motion, rather than pushing it toward the center of the tooth. Check the slot often so it stops at dentin. Continue across the occlusal; on anterior crowns, carry it over the incisal edge, where it may need to be 3.0 mm deep or more (Kurtzman, 2020).

3. Split, do not grind off

Rotate a flat-bladed crown remover where the slots meet to split the crown; a composite instrument can break, and excessive force can fracture the tooth. If it will not split, deepen the slots to dentin, extend 2.0 to 3.0 mm onto the lingual, or relieve the crown interproximally. Bonded lithium disilicate may need an added mesiodistal slot, a plus-shaped cut, with segments split off one at a time. Under zirconia, the luting material often stays on the dentin and comes off during re-preparation (Kurtzman, 2020).

4. Protect the preparation

Even a controlled cut marks the tooth: on electron microscopy of one tooth per group, bur removal left cutting streaks and more open dentinal tubules than laser removal (Deeb et al., Materials 2022).

How Can You Make the Next Removal Easier?

Implant crowns

A screw-retained crown is unscrewed, not cut; see screw-retained vs. cement-retained implant crowns. If you cement, the cement matters. In a lab study of cast crowns on titanium abutments, glass-ionomer-cemented crowns were significantly easier to remove than polycarboxylate-cemented ones, and the authors call the glass ionomer semipermanent (Mehl et al., 2012). In another lab study, an Er,Cr:YSGG laser removed zirconia implant crowns in 2 min 40 s with non-eugenol zinc oxide cement, against 5 min 26 s with self-adhesive resin cement (Viski et al., 2025).

Tooth-supported crowns

Appropriate cement use on retentive preparations can help if a crown must later come off (Spath and Smith, 2017), and bonded glass-ceramics resist splitting more than zirconia (Kurtzman, 2020); see How to Cement Zirconia and Bond E.max. Richwil resin, ultrasonics and crown tractors are preferred for temporarily cemented restorations (Bajunaid, 2017), though ultrasonic vibration did not ease retrieval in the implant study above (Mehl et al., 2012).

Does Laser Debonding Work on Zirconia and E.max?

Erbium lasers are an emerging option. Their energy passes through the ceramic and is absorbed by water and residual monomer in the cement, which disintegrates so the crown lifts off intact (Deeb et al., Materials 2022).

Side effects are debated: one study found no significant change in zirconia's color, strength or hardness after Er:YAG debonding at 4 to 6 W (Zhang et al., 2024). A 2022 scoping review found every included study was ex vivo or simulated and called for clinical studies (Deeb et al., J Prosthodont 2022). The authors of the 2022 lab comparison call rotary removal a proven method and the laser a non-invasive alternative.

What Should You Send the Lab for the Replacement?

• A new scan or impression after all residual cement is gone and the margin is refined.
• Complete adjacent teeth and a bite recorded on both sides.
• Why the old crown came off: caries, fracture, endodontic access, poor seating or esthetics.
• The material and grade you want; if the old crown performed well, name its brand or grade.
• A stump shade photo for translucent crowns; see shade matching with photos.
• The pre-op scan of the old crown, if its shape should be copied.

To avoid a repeat, see Crown Remakes: What Really Causes Them.

Zirconia Crowns at Elegant Dental Laboratory

• Zirconia in solid 3Y, 9-layer 5Y, solid with buccal porcelain, and zirconia copings with layered porcelain; we follow the brand or grade written on the Rx. Also IPS e.max and screw-retained or cement-retained implant restorations.
• Digital scans are reviewed before production, and every case is made in house in Brooklyn by more than 35 technicians.
• 5 business day standard turnaround on most restorative cases, rush options, and up to a 7-year warranty on final restorations (policies and warranties).
• Submit a digital case or send a case: free pickup and delivery by our own drivers in all five New York City boroughs and 13 northern New Jersey counties, and UPS labels anywhere. Call 877-335-5221.

FAQ

What is the best bur for removing a zirconia crown?

In lab studies, a new zirconia-specific diamond or a single-use coarse diamond cut zirconia fastest; a carbide bur was least efficient.

How long does it take to section a zirconia crown?

About 130 to 197 seconds per 5Y molar crown in a dummy-head study, rising as the bur wears.

Why does my diamond stop cutting partway through?

Zirconia strips diamond particles from the bur. In one study, cutting efficiency fell by about 40% to 50% over ten cuts in zirconia.

Can a zirconia crown be removed without destroying it?

Sometimes, with an erbium laser: 50 of 52 abutments came off undamaged in one clinical series. 3Y crowns take longest, and lasers were not always faster than a bur.

Is sectioning a crown on an implant safe?

With irrigation, the implant warmed 3.59 °C on average in a lab study; without it, 18.76 °C. Always use water, or choose screw retention.

Should I cut e.max differently?

A super coarse diamond was fastest on e.max in one study, and bonded e.max may need an extra mesiodistal slot before it splits.

Reviewed by Gary Fingerman, founder and CEO of Elegant Dental Laboratory, Brooklyn, New York (founded 2007). Last reviewed: October 1, 2026. Study values are from published research or manufacturer pages; techniques are those described by the cited authors, and lab times do not include clinical conditions.