A Plot Twist in the Tale of Dental Cubic Zirconia—and a (Dis)course Correction

Different scientific fields occasionally have to deal with the problem of imprecision when definitions cross disciplinary boundaries and extend beyond the scope of technical oversight. This occurred when dentistry adopted ambiguous phase descriptions for zirconia materials from a ceramics community that was still grappling with methodological uncertainties. Here, we recount the origins of dental zirconia being mistakenly referred to as "cubic" as well as the reasons underlying the difficulties in accurately assessing crystallographic phase structures in such materials. We highlight compelling new evidence that corroborates earlier studies suggesting that zirconia within the compositional range of stabilization used in dentistry is fully tetragonal upon cooling from the sintering temperature.