What is CEREC?
CEREC is a revolutionary system that
enables our dentists at Brookshire Dental to design, fabricate and fit a new crown,
onlay or inlay in a single visit, a procedure that would normally take
at least two weeks if not more!
How does this technology work?
The dentist will prepare your tooth in the normal way he would before fitting a
crown. At this point instead of using “dental putty” to take
an impression of your tooth, a digital image is taken using a special
camera. This image is then converted into 3D computerized model of your
tooth which in 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
onsite milling machine which fabricates your new tooth from a high
quality ceramic block. The milling process can take anywhere from as
little as 6 minutes to 30 minutes depending on the exact technology and
complexity of the tooth. The latest CEREC MCXL machine can mill a crown
in as little as 6 minutes.
The ceramic blocks come in a wide
variety of shades and colors, and is selected to match your surrounding
teeth. Once the crown has been milled the dentist may
characterize it and stain it to match your surrounding teeth in color
before polishing it or glazing it in a furnace. Your new restoration
will then be cemented into place onto your prepared tooth.