Same-Day CEREC Crowns
Most dental offices offer traditional dental crown procedures, but here at Amy H. See, DDS, we are proud to offer our patients same-day CEREC crowns.
For decades, being able to go to the dentist and have your smile fully restored by the time you walk out used to be a fantasy. But now thanks to modern technology it’s become a reality!
If you have a broken tooth or damaged teeth, your dentist will usually recommend that you get a dental crown to restore your teeth and help save your tooth if it’s severely damaged or decayed.
A dental crown is a small cap that’s been customized to fit exactly over your damaged tooth. What’s great about it is that it will help save your natural tooth by protecting it while also hiding any imperfections that may be on it
What’s the Difference between Traditional Crowns vs. CEREC Crowns?
Traditional dental crown procedures typically require at least two separate trips to the dentist. During your first visit, the dentist will grind down your damaged tooth and prepare it to have a permanent cap installed.
Your dentist will then take an impression of your teeth so that they can send this impression to a dental lab to create a custom crown to go over your damaged tooth.
It will usually take the dental lab anywhere from 2-3 weeks to create your permanent crown. So during this wait time, patients will have to wear a temporary crown in-between visits until they return to have their permanent crown fitted and cemented in place.
For many years, traditional crowns have been the go-to method of helping people restore their broken and damaged teeth. However, there are shortfalls that come with traditional crowns that many patients complain about.
Now thanks to modern technology and advancement in dental procedures, there is a much better option for patients who don’t want to deal with the downsides of a traditional crown called same-day CEREC crowns.
So what is a CEREC crown?
CEREC crown (“Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics”) is an efficient and technologically advanced dental crown procedure that is quickly becoming the preferred option for many patients. This one-day crown procedure will have your permanent crown placed and your smile fully restored in just one afternoon.
Here at Amy H. See, DDS, we are one of the few dental offices in North Carolina that have this technology to create a perfectly-fitted CREC crown.
What happens during your same-day CEREC crown appointment is, Dr. See will use a small camera-scanner to create a 3D (3-dimensional) digital impression of your mouth to measure the area to place the crown. (This means no more having to go through traditional dental impression procedures!)
Digital imaging computer-scanner to take an impression of your mouth
3D imaging to create a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) of your custom CEREC crown
After she takes her scans, our dental staff will use our high-tech milling unit to create your custom ceramic crown right here in our office. Compared to the traditional wait time of 2 weeks or more from a dental lab to create your crown, our milling process is very fast and will be completed in about an hour.
CEREC milling machine (staff creating custom CEREC crown in our office)
Custom CEREC Crown after it’s complete
Once your new crown is ready, Dr. See will bond this crown onto your damaged tooth and your permanent crown will be complete. The actual bonding of the crown to your damaged tooth can happen in a matter of minutes, so this process is very quick.
Our same-day CEREC crowns will fit perfectly onto your tooth, because they’re made using advanced computer-aided precision and accuracy (CAD).
They look and feel exactly like your natural tooth. It’s almost impossible for anyone to tell that you’re wearing a crown at all, even if they’re right up close!
The best part is, this entire crown procedure usually only takes about two hours. Your new crown will be installed and your smile fully restored in one simple dental visit. There’s no need to wait a few weeks and then come back for additional dental visits to install your permanent crown like traditional dental crowns.
How are CEREC crowns better than traditional crowns?
The biggest difference between traditional crowns and CEREC crowns is simply how long the entire process takes. With traditional crowns, you will need at least 2 separate dental visits from start to finish.
And then there is the long wait time in-between your dental visits for the dental lab to finish creating your custom permanent crown. This wait time is typically about 2-3 weeks and you will have to wear a temporary crown while your permanent crown is being made by a dental lab.
Temporary crowns can be uncomfortable and can cause sensitivity around the area where it’s been placed. They’re known to easily come off your tooth or break if you’re not careful while eating food. Many people complain that the time they have to wear their temporary crowns until their permanent crown is installed is not a pleasant experience.
Not only that but temporary crowns can look very unattractive.
Since they were never made to be custom-fitted for your tooth, they tend to look very different from the rest of your natural teeth and will stick out.
In addition, the traditional crown procedure can be invasive. Your dentist will have to take an impression of your mouth by using conventional teeth impression-taking methods. They do this by putting a putty-like dental impression plaster onto a plastic/metal tray and then will place this tray over your teeth.
These trays will then have to stay on your teeth for about 2-3 minutes until it sets. Then once the dental impression putty hardens, your dentist will remove the trays and the impression putty from your mouth.
This is usually a very messy process. For many patients, it can be gag-inducing and very stressful to go through this teeth impression procedure.
CEREC crowns, on the other hand, use digital imaging to produce a 3D virtual impression of your mouth using a small computer-scanner. And these images are transferred to our computerized milling machine here in our office which will create a custom ceramic crown that is an exact match of your teeth.
While it can take a few weeks for a dental lab to create a traditional dental crown, our CEREC crowns are created during your appointment using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Manufacturing (CAM).
After your CEREC crown is finished being made during your dental appointment, the actual installation time will only take a few minutes. The whole process from start to finish will only take about 2 hours and you’ll be ready to go. No more stress of long wait times or having to take time off from work for multiple dental visits to get your dental crown.
The best part is, there’s absolutely no need to go through the hassle of dealing with uncomfortable temporary crowns or the gag-inducing teeth impression procedure ever again!
Benefits of same-day CEREC Crowns
To summarize, here are all the benefits of choosing this amazing CEREC technology:
The entire same-day CEREC crown procedure only takes 2 hours from start to finish
CEREC crown uses a computer-scanner to take a 3-D digital impression of your mouth in just a few minutes
CEREC crowns are incredibly accurate and precise because it’s made in our milling unit that uses highly advanced computer-aided manufacturing technology (CAM)
CEREC crowns are very detailed and natural looking; they look and feel exactly like a real tooth
CEREC crowns are stronger, more durable, and made to last compared to traditional crowns
No need for temporary crowns, no more gag-inducing traditional teeth impressions, and less post-operative sensitivity around the area where your crown is placed
There are no other types of crowns on the market that can compete with the aesthetic beauty of a CEREC crown
Take Advantage of same-day CEREC Crown technology
If you’re a busy person with a hectic schedule, having multiple visits to a dentist for a traditional dental crown is the last thing you want. Our same-day CEREC crowns make the process much faster and easier.
You can have everything done in one afternoon, without much of the discomfort, stress, and long wait times that come with traditional crowns.
If you have a broken, cracked, or damaged tooth, give us a call to see what the latest CEREC technology can do for you. During your appointment with us, our experienced dental team will carefully go over everything and see what works best for you.
So if you’re ready to improve your smile in just one afternoon, book your appointment today. We look forward to seeing you soon!