Restorations

CEREC

CEREC (Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics) is a revolutionary system that allows your dentist to design, create and fit a new crown, veneer, onlay or inlay in a single visit. This procedure would normally take up to three weeks.

The multi-instrument CEREC system consists of an infrared digital camera, a computer with 3-D imaging software, and a milling unit with diamond blades for quick, precise, and highly detailed construction of restorations.

How CEREC Technology Works

Dr. Ganji or Dr. Yang will prepare your tooth in the normal fashion before fitting a crown or a veneer. At this point, instead of using dental putty to take an impression of your tooth, he or she will take a digital picture using the CEREC camera. Using CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) technology, the CEREC software converts this picture to a 3-D virtual model of your prepared tooth. This image is used as a guide to design your new restoration.

Once Dr. Ganji or Dr. Yang is happy with the virtual tooth, the data is sent to an on-site CEREC milling unit, which fabricates your new tooth from a high-quality ceramic block. These blocks come in a wide variety of shades and colors and are selected to match your surrounding teeth. The process usually takes less than 20 minutes.

After the milling is finished, your dentist will polish the filling or crown and bond it into place in your mouth.

The Benefits of CEREC

There are several advantages to CEREC restorations over conventional laboratory-made restorations:

• Single-Appointment Dental Care – With CEREC, you only need to visit the dentist once, instead of the usual two or three visits required with conventional restoration procedures.
• Complete Control by Your Dentist – Since the restoration is designed and fabricated from start to finish by your dentist, he or she has complete control over how it will look and fit. By contrast, a crown made in a laboratory is under the control of a technician who has never seen the patient.
• No Temporary Restorations – Conventional restoration procedures require you to wear temporary restorations while the laboratory makes your new restoration. Temporary restorations can fall off or cause other problems. CEREC eliminates this inconvenience.
• Fine Materials – CEREC uses strong, tooth-colored ceramic materials to restore your teeth to their natural strength, beauty, and function. Not only do they look like the rest of your teeth, these materials closely match the composition of your natural tooth structure, allowing you to eat hot and cold foods without worrying about your tooth cracking from the extreme temperatures.

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