PROCESS FOR PRODUCING COLOURED SINTERED CERAMIC BODIES, IN PARTICULAR FOR DENTAL APPLICATIONS

1 - 10 . (canceled)

11 . A process for producing colored sintered ceramic bodies for dental applications comprising adding a coloring substance in a dry state in powder form to a material of a base composition of the ceramic body to be produced and homogeneously mixing with the latter in the dry state.

12 . A process according to claim 11 , wherein the coloring substance is at least one of a Al 2 O 3 -material, a ZrO 2 -material, a Si 3 N 4 -material, a MgO— material, a SiAlON-material, a metal oxide, a rare earth element or an element of a subgroup.

13 . A process according to claim 11 , wherein after dry-mixing the material of the base composition with the coloring substance or substances and after compressing to form a blank, pre-sintering is effected to a white density between 2.8 g/cm 3 and 3.30 g/cm 3 .

14 . A process according to claim 11 , wherein the shaped body is pre-sintered at a temperature of from 950° C. to 1200° C.

15 . A process according to claim 11 , wherein a final form of the sintered body is achieved by processing the white bodies that have been produced by pre-sintering and have already been colored through.

16 . A process according to claim 11 , wherein hard sintering or dense sintering is effected at a temperature of from 1100° C. to 1900° C.

17 . A process according to claim 11 , wherein the powder mixture is compressed to form a blank, and the blank is hard sintered or dense sintered, and the sintered body is shaped by hard processing with a material-removing tool.

18 . A sintered body produced according to the process of claim 11 .

19 . A sintered body produced according to the process of claim 11 that is a dental implant.

20 . A sintered body produced according to the process according to claim 11 that is a dental prosthesis.

21 . The process of claim 12 , wherein the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of Fe 2 O 3 , CeO 2 , Er 2 O 3 and Pr 6 O 11 .