E.Max Vs Empress Crowns For Most Natural Looking?

In MY opinion, Empress is the nicest looking, but may not be as durable. eMax is very strong, but not quite as pretty.  The newer formulations from Ivoclar are making eMax look better, and with a very skilled lab they can look great.  They are BOTH from Ivoclar, and I believe Ivoclar is phasing out Empress.

 

This is minutiae, though.  Most people can't tell the difference, so I would suggest eMax.  Most of what I place is eMax.

Empress was the "Aesthetic Choice" for many years, though somewhat brittle.  Now that we have eMax veneers and crowns made of dilithium silicate, we have aesthetics and durability in one.  If you are going to make a significant investment in your smile, you want it to last.  How natural it looks depends more on the special artistic training your dentist and ceramic artist (beyond a mere lab technician) have accomplished than on the substrate chosen.  How do you know if you are in the right hands?  If your dentist comes at you with a needle before taking countless close up photos and shade matches, then run don't walk. 

The quality depends a lot on the dental lab.  Empress looks very nice, however, I have seen excellent results with Emax.  I have found that not very many people will be able to tell the difference even some dental professionals can't tell the difference.  Below is an example of an Emax case that I did recently.