Translucent zirconia modifications offer esthetic improvement for manually veneered zirconia structures, as they do not lead to a shining through of the substructure material, even in cases with a pronounced anatomic core design for maximum support of the veneering ceramics. Moreover, these zirconia modifications allow the production of fully anatomic zirconia crowns and fixed dental prostheses in the posterior region. The clinical advantage of these restorations is defined by a significantly reduced material thickness in comparison with veneered restorations or other monolithic materials. As the restoration can be colored individually prior to sintering, followed by characterization by staining, good esthetic results in the posterior region are achieved, even in cases with substantially reduced space. The results of laboratory studies performed so far seem to justify the clinical application of fully anatomic restorations. However, additional clinical studies are required to support these new material modifications. Keywords: abrasion, all-ceramic, chipping, monolithic ceramics, zirconia