CEREC™

Natural-Looking Crowns Made While You Wait

You know the routine. You visit the dentist. You need a crown. The dentist prepares the tooth, takes an impression, and places a temporary crown. You then wait two weeks to return to the dentist, and he places the permanent crown. And if the fit isn’t perfect, then it goes back to the lab and you wait again. And return to the dentist again.

But now, that’s all changed. Dr. Howard can reduce that two-week waiting period and the two or three office visits to just a single visit with CEREC, a computer-aided design and milling device that allows us to create a permanent crown in just a few minutes. Now, there’s no more waiting for the lab and no return trips to the dentist. Patients love it!

The CEREC system allows us to repair a damaged tooth in about an hour. We no longer need to take impressions or create temporaries, and CEREC enables us to satisfy patients seeking a long-lasting, esthetic alternative to silver or plastic fillings.

To make the restoration, we use a special camera to take a digital impression of the tooth. The picture is then displayed on a computer screen, enabling us to design the restoration. Then CEREC takes over and automatically creates the restoration, milling it out of a solid block of dental material. Finally, we bond the new restoration to the surface of the old tooth. The entire visit usually takes about an hour and a half.

All this makes going to the dentist much easier and faster, and who really wants to spend more time in the dental chair?