Same Day Crowns

If one of your teeth is damaged, your dentist may recommend a dental crown to address the situation. A crown is a small, tooth-shaped cap that fits over your tooth. It can hide a discolored or misshapen tooth or even a tooth implant.

A crown can also protect or restore a broken, worn-down, or damaged tooth. A crown can hold a dental bridge in place, too. You have options when it comes to choosing the type of crown you receive.

Crowns can be made from a variety of different materials, including:

• metal
• resin
• ceramic
• porcelain
• a combination of porcelain and metal that’s often called porcelain-fused-to-metal

At Amelia Perfect Smile, Our on-site dental laboratory employs state-of-the-art CEREC dental computer CAD/CAM milling systems to produce crowns from zirconium, the strongest dental ceramic material. We install our crowns using sophisticated computer-assisted technology.

CEREC stands for Chair-side Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics. We can typically install one of these crowns as part of a same-day procedure that will get you in and out of the chair in one afternoon.

CEREC systems provide these advantages:

Same-day procedure

Rather than wait as long as 2 weeks for your new crown, you can walk into our office and walk out with your new CEREC crown on the same day.

Our trained and certified dentists use computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing (CAM) to capture digital images of your tooth and jaw, design a crown, and then create that crown for installation — all right here in our office.

The appearance of the crown

Your friends might not ever realize that your tooth has a crown. Because it lacks a metal core, a CEREC crown from Amelia Perfect Smile tends to look more natural and more closely resemble the surrounding teeth. Research suggests the aesthetic appearance benefits from not having a dark core to interrupt the reflection of light.

Strength

CEREC crowns provide a reliable restoration of your tooth. These crowns tend to be sturdy and resist abrasion, making them more likely to last. That’s good news since the last thing you want to do is head back to the dental chair to get your new crown repaired.

What are CEREC veneers?

In some cases, dental veneers are an acceptable alternative to crowns.

Unlike crowns, veneers are thin shells that only cover the front of the teeth, so they may not be appropriate for teeth that are broken or damaged. They are typically made of porcelain or a resin composite.

We use the computer-assisted design (CAD) tools that are part of the CEREC process to create far superior ceramic veneers for your teeth.

You should expect long-lasting results, with CERAC crowns providing a very high restoration survival rate 9 years after undergoing the procedure.

The OLD process

During the first visit, your dentist would prepare the tooth that needs a crown and take a messy impression to send to the dental laboratory. You’d receive a temporary crown. Then return for a second visit to get your permanent crown installed.

The NEW process

If you’ve ever seen a 3-D printer at work, you can grasp the way this process will unfold:

Open wide for the camera. Our dentist will take digital pictures of the tooth that needs a crown.
The model is created before your eyes right on the computer screen.  You can actually see your new tooth in advance. Our dentist will use CAD/CAM technology to take those digital images and create a digital model of your tooth.

Our on-premises dental laboratory takes the model and creates, or mills, a 3-D tooth out of zirconium. This process only takes about 15 minutes. Then, the laboratory specialist colors, sinters, and polishes the new crown and the dentist fits it in place inside your mouth.

Summary

Amelia Perfect Smile CEREC crowns may be a good option for you if you’re looking for a durable, natural-looking crown, and you don’t want to wait for a couple of weeks to get it.

Talk to us about your options and discuss whether this method is available for you and if it fits into your budget.