A dental crown is a restoration that acts like a cap, which is fitted onto your tooth. A crown encloses the tooth completely below the gum line and looks and functions just like a natural tooth.
So why might you need your tooth restored with a dental crown?
- If any of your teeth have become heavily worn, cracked, broken, or weakened by tooth decay, a dental crown will help to restore them. Crowns are placed over dental implants as a restorative method.
- A crown can be used to support a filling if little of the natural tooth remains.
- If you’ve had a root canal and the tooth structure has weakened, a crown can prevent infection or further damage.
- Dental crowns are also used for cosmetic purposes to improve the aesthetic of teeth if they have been damaged or discoloured.
What is a CEREC One Day crown?
CEREC (Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics) is a CAD/CAM technology which allows the Southview Dental Care team to create state-of-the-art dental crowns. This advanced equipment helps us to produce long-lasting tooth restorations much faster than with standard crowns, giving our patients healthier and better looking smiles in a single day.
What makes a CEREC crown better than a traditional dental crown?
With a traditional dental crown the process would involve two separate appointments over potentially a few weeks. You would first need to have an impression taken of your tooth, and this would be sent to a lab for the crown to be created. In the meantime, you would need to wear a temporary crown until the new crown is bonded to your tooth in the second visit. Instead, a CEREC One Day crown takes minutes to create in our practice, which makes it a much more convenient choice if you’re looking to have your tooth restored:
- CEREC technology designs and creates a perfect restoration for your individual case, in just minutes. There’s no need to wait ages for a crown if you are in pain or having problems with your tooth.
- Because you can have a dental crown placed in the same day, you won’t have to find the time to schedule two appointments in a short space of time, making it a lot less hassle.
- Using CAD/CAM technology, the digital scan used to design and create the crown is highly accurate and fully customised. A CEREC crown will exactly match the colour, shape and size of your existing teeth for a natural appearance.
- Having an impression taken digitally makes the CEREC process more comfortable. You may also feel less pain and discomfort than you would with traditional dental crowns once the CEREC crown has been placed.
How CEREC crowns are fitted
We use the CEREC machine to create 3D digital images of your teeth. From the scans we can design an accurate and durable ceramic restoration. You can view the digital scans on-screen, so we can discuss the treatment with you in more detail.
Once created, your custom crown will be polished then immediately fitted. Generally having a CEREC crown fitted will take about an hour and a half, which makes it much more efficient than traditional dental crowns.
CEREC crowns are made from very strong materials, so there is no need to worry about eating certain foods or damaging your crown any more than you would with your natural teeth.
Depending on your case your CEREC crown can last for around 10 years, however it’s important to maintain a good level of care to get the most out of it.
Caring for your CEREC dental crown
It’s important to keep your restoration and the surrounding teeth strong and healthy, by keeping up a proper dental care routine. You may also benefit from a regular cleaning appointment to maintain your crown, where we can examine any early signs of trouble.
If you’d like to find out more about our fast same-day CEREC crowns or you’d like to book an appointment, please call us on 01732 865021 or email [email protected].
