Monday, April 15, 2013

Single Appointment Crowns

One of the most exciting breakthroughs in modern dentistry is the use of computer assisted technology to manufacture porcelain ceramic crowns. At Summer Smiles, we are proud to offer our patients with the latest technology and patient comfort/convenience.

A CEREC crown can be completed in a single appointment, rather than the multiple appointments required with previous techniques. This also reduces the number of local anesthetic injections needed.

The first step in preparing a tooth for a CEREC crown is to file and shape the tooth. Next an impression is taken digitally with a camera. The camera sends a 3-D optical image of the prepared tooth to the computer.  Dr. Hsia then uses the computer’s CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacture) technology to design the crown and its specifications are sent to a milling machine. The milling machine under computer control carves the actual restoration out of an extremely hard ceramic block using diamond coated instruments. The crown is then placed in your mouth and checked for fit, contacts, occlusion and appearance. If everything is acceptable; the crown will be bonded to your tooth....all in one appointment!