Patent ID: 7955159

Claim:
A method of reducing the time for machining a dental ceramic blank, wherein the fracture toughness (K Ic ) and the flexural strength (σ f ) of the dental ceramic material are known, comprising: calculating an estimate of the maximal surface critical flaw size and an estimate of the maximal volume critical flaw size of the dental ceramic using the following formula: c =( K Ic /σ f ) 2 wherein: c is the maximal surface critical flaw size and 2c is the maximal volume critical flaw size; implementing a machining strategy using a series of diamond tools, wherein the diamond tools comprise embedded diamonds; wherein the machining strategy comprises rough, intermediate and fine machining steps; wherein each step comprises a tool path and machining parameters, wherein the tool path and machining parameters are carried out by at least one of the series of diamond tools; wherein the grain size of the embedded diamonds is larger than approximately the estimated maximal size of the surface critical flaw and smaller than approximately the estimated maximal size of the volume critical flaw.