Cerec crowns are an advanced dentistry technique that enables dentists to produce more natural and functional ceramic crowns to help patients achieve a better smile. Dental procedures involving the creation and placement of custom dental crowns are popular dental procedures we have today. This is because dental crowns cover the entire tooth eliminating any blemishes, unlike dental inlays and overlays that cover a part of the tooth to add protection.
Cerec crowns are ideal for heavily decayed and damaged teeth and are mainly used as routine finished for other dental treatments like root canal and dental implants. If you have ever undergone the traditional crown placement, you know that it can be a time-consuming process. But thanks to cerec crowns, the time is significantly shortened.
What are cerec crowns?
According to experts such as this Cerec dental crown specialist in Melbourne, Cerec is a high-tech dental device that enables patients to go from diagnosis to dental crown placement within only hours. It involves using CAD/CAM technology to create a cerec crown in only a single visit. It is a mapping technology that takes a computer image of your tooth. A new tooth is then milled out of a ceramic block and bonded to your tooth, so the process is very accurate and detailed.
Traditionally, dental crown impressions are taken, and the cast is sent to a centralized dental lab to make a life-like tooth. That can take weeks for the lab to receive the impression, make the tooth and send it back. That forces some patients to get a temporary crown as they wait for the permanent crown, which is not an ideal situation. But cerec crowns are a speedy alternative and more efficient.
How are they customized?
Ideally, lab-manufactured crowns require a physical impression of the damaged tooth. For a patient, they have to bite on gooey alginate for a certain period to make the impression. That is uncomfortable and can be an unpleasant experience especially for patients with a low gag reflex.
In contrast, cerec crown impressions are taken using a digital scanner. It takes a 3D image of the tooth, which is then fed into a computer program. After that, a 3D milling machine in the dental clinic uses the image to mil a perfect replica of the patient’s dentition. Then the dentist fits and polishes the crown to your tooth, a process that takes a few hours.
The best thing about cerec crowns is that they are tailored to minimize flaws, which is why most fitness and health influencers on social media market them. The scans are accurate, and the image is fed into a computer program replicating the tooth in as little as five minutes. As such, the human element is eliminated; therefore, there is no room for error.
final thoughts
Cerec crowns provide an effective solution for any patient wanting to minimize their time in the dental clinic. They are a fantastic smile restoration solution that lasts for years, giving the patient a natural, durable smile.
