CEREC Crowns

By Emma Cameron

Many dentists have adopted a newer technology into their practices which provides patients with an efficient, convenient, and time-saving option when it comes to sitting in the dental chair for a new crown. CAD-CAM technology (Computer-aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing) is a popular alternative to creating dental crowns. This type of technology allows for a patient to have his or her tooth prepared and to receive the crown in one visit, with no provisional restoration needed.

Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, or CEREC for short, is a brand familiar to many dentists. CEREC crowns are fabricated with CAD-CAM technology to design, mill, and bake into an oven for a customized all ceramic restoration.

How Does It Work?

1. The patient comes to the appointment in preparation for a crown. After being anesthetized, the dentist prepares the tooth for a full coverage crown. CEREC crowns require a chamfer finish and 360 degrees of visible margins.

2. After the crown prep is finished, the dentist isolates the area from moisture and uses a special scanning preparation spray on the upper and lower quadrant teeth ipsilateral to the side being restored. The spray is designed to simplify the digital impression process to obtain a clear image in the computer system. A digital impression is taken, capturing all angles of the prepared tooth, its neighboring teeth, and the opposing teeth in order to get proper occlusion. An upper, lower, and buccal scan is saved into the CEREC computer which then gets analyzed for the digital making of the new crown.

3. Once computed and analyzed by the system, the dentist can make corrections to adjust the measurements in order to get the perfect fit. The computer will show the clinician exactly where the crown is too thick/thin, open contacts/too tight of contacts, etc. This can all be adjusted accordingly.

4. Once the design is just right, the next process is the milling of the crown. The milling machine gets a signal from the CEREC computer when the crown is ready to be fabricated. The dentist would have the appropriate colored ceramic block inserted into the milling machine prior to milling.

5. Once the crown is milled, the dentist would try in the crown to verify the fit and make adjustments as needed. Once the fit is checked, the crown is ready to be stained, glazed and baked into the oven. The baking process is the final step before cementation.

There are many advantages to same day CEREC crowns including: no need for traditional impression taking, the patient does not need a provisional restoration, the final restoration is complete in one visit, the utilization of digital impression taking gives extremely accurate measurements, the restoration is completely tooth colored (highly aesthetic), etc.

A same day crown service is something to consider for practicing dentists as it has many advantages as compared to traditional crown procedures. This advancement in technology has the potential to make dental appointments more efficient, less timely, and undoubtedly aesthetic.

Reference:

Sannino G, Germano F, Arcuri L, Bigelli E, Arcuri C, Barlattani A. CEREC CAD/CAM Chairside System. Oral Implantol (Rome). 2015 Apr 13;7(3):57-70. PMID: 25992260; PMCID: PMC4402686.