CEREC CROWNS

What is a dental crown?

A dental crown is a tooth shaped cover which fits over the existing structure of your natural tooth to protect and restore the tooth’s function.

Crowns can be used to –

• After root canal treatment, to help strengthen the tooth.
• Strengthen teeth which have been weakened by decay or a large filling.
• Protect fractured, cracked and worn teeth.
• Cover the abutment after an implant has been placed in the bone and gum, for an undetectable, natural finish.
• Aesthetically improve the shape, alignment and shade of a tooth.

What types of materials are used to fabricate dental crowns?

Crowns can be made using the following materials – all metal (often gold) or tooth coloured crowns such as  porcelain fused to metal (often gold or a gold alloy underneath a ceramic outer layer), full ceramic (porcelain) or composite (plastic with glass particles embedded). Our doctors will discuss the benefits of the various crowns with the patient and recommend the most suitable option

What types of crowns are commonly fabricated at DP Dental?

At DP Dental, we are committed to providing the highest quality dental care with our highly specialized dental team and the aid of state-of-the-art technologies. Our doctors are certified practitioners of the revolutionary CEREC – One Visit Ceramic Restoration technology.

With this technology, patients only have to visit our doctors once, and walk out with a new, natural, permanently fixed ceramic (porcelain) crown. No more waiting for laboratories to hand-craft each crown, no more second visits to fix the crown, no more temporary crowns.

Our doctors at DP Dental will shape your tooth, scan it with the CEREC machine, and mill it in our in-house laboratory and cement it onto your tooth on the same day. The result is a highly-accurate, precise, and natural looking crown fitted on the same day.

How does the CEREC technology work?

 

First, our doctors will numb the tooth and surrounding gum with local anaesthesia, then the tooth will be shaped, creating a cylindrical shape onto which the crown will be cemented.

At this point, instead of using “dental putty” to take an impression of your tooth, a digital camera is used to scan your tooth. This video is then converted into a 3D computerised model of your tooth, which is used as a guide to design your new restoration.

Once your dentist is happy with the newly designed tooth, this data is sent to an on-site milling machine, which fabricates your new tooth from a high-quality ceramic block.

Matching shade and fit

The ceramic blocks come in a wide variety of shades and colours, and your tooth will be selected to match your surrounding teeth. Once the crown or veneer has been milled, our doctor may choose to characterise it by glazing to match your surrounding teeth. Your new restoration will then be cemented into place onto your prepared tooth.

Our doctor will help you try in your new crown, making sure that it fits correctly and that you are happy with the appearance. The crown will then be permanently cemented in place. The bite is checked carefully and minor adjustments are made if necessary.