Have You Visited a CEREC Dentist Yet?

If you haven’t seen a CEREC dentist yet, you are yet to experience the future of dental care.  Technology has greatly improved how both medical and dental care are delivered. Procedures are more comfortable and efficient than they used to be, leaving people more time to enjoy life, rather than sitting in an exam chair. Understanding that our patients have busy and demanding lives, we are always looking for ways to improve the care that we provide and make it more convenient.  CEREC is that way.

We use this new technology to create dental crowns while our patients wait.  This is a huge improvement over the traditional methods since, in the past, this procedure would require multiple visits.  After completing a dental exam and determining that a crown was the way to solve a particular issue, we would make an impression of our patient’s teeth.  That information would then be sent to our dental lab so that a crown could be created in the right size and shape while also fitting with the patient’s bite.  This process is fairly tedious because a crown is so small, and one misstep can interfere with the bite.  Keeping this in mind, it typically takes one to two weeks for a dental lab to finish a crown. While waiting, patients have to wear a temporary one then return to have the permanent crown bonded in place.

As a CEREC dentist, we are revolutionizing this part of the process by making it possible to have a crown created while you wait, thereby eliminating the need for a temporary crown or second appointment.  We still require a patient to have a dental exam but instead of making and impression of their teeth, we create digital images that are then uploaded into our CAD software.  The software makes a 3D model of the tooth and crown before sending the specifications to a 3D printer.  The printer responds by printing out the crown, one layer at a time.  This is done while you wait so that you can leave the same day with a perfect looking tooth.

While the dental crown is being created, we will prepare the tooth by removing a portion of the enamel from around the tooth.  This way when the crown is placed, it will cause little to no irritation of the surrounding teeth.  In the past, patients would then have to wear a temporary crown.  Now, once the tooth is prepared, we can instantly move to fitting the permanent crown.  We will ensure that it looks natural and fits perfectly prior to moving to the bonding phase.  Once it does, dental cement will be placed onto the tooth so that the crown can be permanently bonded in place, and the strength of the tooth will be preserved.

In our CEREC dentist office, we have found that this procedure is particularly helpful for patients that have damaged their tooth and are looking to correct it immediately.  We can use this procedure to fix cracked or chipped teeth without delay along with making teeth look better cosmetically.  To learn more, call and schedule an appointment.

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