If you've had a compromised tooth in the past that was decayed or damaged beyond what a dental filling could repair, you might have had a crown to restore your tooth. Back then, it could take up to three weeks and two lengthy visits with your dentist to complete a tooth crown. However, these days, we can deliver dental crowns and other high-quality porcelain restorations in one simple appointment with innovative CEREC technology.
Here's how it works!
What Is CEREC?
CEREC stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics. Essentially, CEREC enables our dentists to take a 3-D image of your tooth and design a restoration, like a crown or a veneer, that we can mill in our Melbourne dental office while you wait. The entire process takes about 60 to 90 minutes, and you'll leave our dental office with a fully functioning and aesthetically pleasing restoration that you can start enjoying immediately.
The CEREC Crown Process
Getting a CEREC crown is a straightforward process. Once it's determined that a crown is the right restoration for your needs, we start by numbing the area to be treated so you don't feel anything during your procedure. Then our dentists will prepare your tooth for its restoration and scan an image that they'll use to design your new crown.
The image is then transferred to our CEREC milling machine, which will use high-quality porcelain to fabricate your new tooth. The milling occurs in a machine at our location and is ready after a few minutes.
Then our dentists make any necessary adjustments to your new tooth to ensure that you can chew, bite, and smile with ease.
What Are the Advantages of CEREC Technology?
CEREC offers several advantages over previous crown technology that took weeks to complete:
- Efficient: CEREC saves our patients the time and hassle of multiple appointments to complete their procedure.
- Comfortable: We no longer have to take uncomfortable and messy impressions of your teeth to create your crown. Instead, we can scan your tooth, creating a 3-D image for our dentists to design your restoration.
- Reliable: CEREC uses high-quality porcelain that you can rely on for years.
- Ease: Patients no longer have to wear an uncomfortable and unreliable temporary crown while they wait weeks for the dental lab to complete their restoration.
- Effective: CEREC is especially helpful for emergency patients that need solutions and relief quickly.
Patients love the benefits and freedom CEREC restorations in Melbourne, FL, offer!
Caring for Your CEREC Crown
Taking care of your new restoration is simple, as you'll be able to brush and floss just like you would do with your natural teeth. Brushing twice daily and flossing once is one of the best ways to protect your smile, oral health, and dental restorations.
Regular checkups with your Melbourne dentist are also critical for the health of your dental restorations and smile. Our dentists can detect common problems like tooth decay and gum disease before they become more significant and problematic so that you can be proactive about your dental care.
Avoiding certain foods can also prolong the health of your dental restorations. Don't bite directly into hard foods like carrots, crusty bread, or apples. Cutting hard foods into bite-sized pieces can protect your natural teeth and dental restorations from harm. Staying away from chewy foods like caramels and taffy can guard against pulling restorations off of your teeth.
Why Is It Important to Restore My Tooth?
If you have a tooth that is deeply damaged, decayed, or fractured, restoring it also means that you're protecting it from further damage and decay. These teeth may also be causing you sensitivity or discomfort, which can be alleviated when you repair the damage.
It's also important to note that if your tooth is decayed, it will worsen and progress further into your tooth if left untreated, resulting in a more painful condition like a tooth infection.
Restoring your compromised tooth with a dental crown in Melbourne will protect your tooth and dental health and preserve your smile.
Is a CEREC Crown Right for Me?
If you're interested in learning more about CEREC restorations for your smile, the first place to start is to schedule an evaluation with one of our dentists. At 321 Family Dental, Dr. Eley and Dr. Kedzierski strive to provide comfortable, modern, and high-quality dentistry to patients in Melbourne, FL. We're thrilled to bring CEREC technology to our dental practice.
You can reach us online or call our team at (321) 254-0306 to book your evaluation.