CEREC Same Day Crowns
Same Day Crowns
Typically, when your tooth suffers damage, a dental crown is placed. A dental crown is essentially a tooth cap that covers the entire visible portion of your natural tooth, providing strength and protection. Crowns usually require two dental visits, however, and you have to wear a temporary crown while you wait for your final restoration. At Burns Family Dentistry, we are proud to present same day crowns with CEREC restorations.
What is CAD/CAM?
This technology is an acronym for Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing which has been around for about the last 25 years. It consists of a software program that works with a milling device to turn a virtual design into a physical piece. There are many different CAD/CAM machines in dentistry. After researching multiple types and training on different machines, our office decided to select a CEREC.
CEREC is also an acronym that stands for Chairside Economical Restorations of Esthetic Ceramics. Utilizing CEREC, we are able to create crowns for teeth that are both durable and natural looking.
How Does It Work?
The process for your same day CEREC crown starts with the preparation of your tooth just like the procedure for a regular dental crown. Once the tooth is prepped the CEREC software and milling machine allows us to:
Scan – this eliminates the need to take putty impressions. We simply guide the camera over the teeth and a 3D image is displayed on the computer monitor. An added benefit is this really helps in educating the patient on areas to be aware of/keep clean since it is 3 Dimensional.
Design – the software will use the scans to generate a virtual model that we then use to design your new crown.
Produce – the virtual crown is then milled using a single block of ceramic in the milling unit and basically reverse 3D prints your crown in about 10 minutes.
Sinter – the newly milled crown is glazed and polished and is then ready to be “fired” or heated in the furnace at a temperature below the melting temperature of the milled ceramic crown. The shape of the crown remains intact. The sintered crown then gets its final properties such as hardness, strength and esthetics.
Try in – the final crown is complete and ready to be cemented permanently.
- Benefits of CAD/CAM crowns?
- There are numerous benefits!
- leave the office with your final restoration permanently cemented
- no need for a second visit or weeks caring for a temporary crown
- the esthetics are natural
- can be used as veneers or even partial crowns called onlays
no longer need to wait two weeks for your final crown – with our techniques you just don’t have to anymore!
