CEREC CROWNS
To understand the Cerec crown and its pros and cons, you
need a little background in the construction of a crown:
HOW CROWNS ARE MADE -
Usually a crown takes two visits: on the first visit, the tooth is prepared
by being shaved down somewhat. An impression is taken of your teeth, and
this impression is sent to a laboratory where your crown will be made.
Meanwhile, you wear a temporary crown made with some type of plastic
material. On your second appointment, the temporary is removed and the
durable crown is placed on your tooth.
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This diagram shows the concept of a
dental crown. The tooth is reduced in size to allow for complete
coverage by the ceramic crown material. The cut-away ceramic covers the
entire tooth, all the way around, usually down to the gumline. |
CEREC ONE-VISIT CROWNS - A recent innovation available in the offices of some
cosmetic dentists is the "Computer-assisted design—Computer-assisted
manufacture" crown, or "CAD-CAM."
The company that is foremost in this technology is Cerec. This crown is milled by a computer to fit
your tooth precisely, thus eliminating the laboratory step in manufacturing
the crown.
With Cerec's CAD-CAM technology, the
crown is made by a computer while you wait, thus eliminating the second
appointment and the temporary crown. These Cerec crowns are milled out of
pure ceramic.
Cerec technology can also be used to manufacture
porcelain fillings. There are some very skilled cosmetic dentists who are
also able to create Cerec porcelain veneers.
Doing these well requires an exceptional amount of skill. Remember that Cerec crowns are
milled out of a single block of porcelain. This creates an esthetic problem
because natural teeth have a gradation of color from the gumline to the
biting edge. However, there are some cosmetic dentists who have developed
the technology to create beautiful life-like porcelain restorations for
front teeth with the Cerec system, with color gradations in the teeth and a
beautiful polish. One of these is mynewsmile.com cosmetic
dentist Dr. George Mantell in Tucson, Arizona.
Click here to read about his
Cerec porcelain veneer technique and to see photographs of his work.
PROS and CONS
Advantages:
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Cerec crowns are made in one visit, saving both
the dentist and the patient time.
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With Cerec, there is no need for a temporary crown,
which eliminates one of the potential discomforts for the patient.
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Cerec crowns have no metal in them, and thus are
reasonably esthetic.
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Cerec material and technology can also be used for fillings. Since
they are made out of porcelain, they are more durable than typical white
composite fillings.
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While the initial investment in Cerec
technology is expensive, it can save money over the long run because there
is no extra lab technician fee for the dentist, and only one appointment is
required, not two.
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Disadvantages:
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Since Cerec crowns are milled out of a
single block of ceramic, it is difficult to incorporate into them the subtle
color gradients of natural teeth. They look great on back teeth, but don't
have the esthetic quality of laboratory-made crowns for front teeth. There are a very few
highly skilled cosmetic
dentists
that are able to create natural-looking dentistry for the front
teeth with Cerec technology, and some companies are now
making ceramic blocks with a color gradient, but
the cosmetic dentist needs to be highly skilled and very talented to work
with these to produce a natural-looking result.
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Using Cerec technology requires extra
training on the part of the dentist. You need to be sure your dentist is
expert in this technology.
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Read
more about Cerec and other types of all-ceramic crowns.
Read about
Cerec porcelain veneers.
Here is a photograph of some Cerec crowns
done by one of our www.mynewsmile.com
network dentists, Dr. Craig Carlson of San Antonio, Texas. Notice that the
work pictured is on back teeth:
[1]Before and after photographs of Cerec
crowns:
Before |
After |
| This
beautiful work of three Cerec crowns was done in one appointment by www.mynewsmile.com dentist, Dr. Craig Carlson of San Antonio, Texas.
For contact information, see our
Texas page. |
Read Dr. Hall's answer to a visitor who is looking for
a perfect color match porcelain
crown for her front tooth.
Read about
Zirconia crowns.
Read Dr. Hall's blog postings about
dental crowns.
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How to find an expert cosmetic
dentist
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