Get Your Crown in One Office Visit…New Dental Technology Part 2

As we discussed in my last blog post, new dental technology has greatly reduced both your visits and pain in the dental chair. What once took several office visits, now getting a crown now only takes one office visit. The new CAD/CAM dental technology means less time waiting on your dental crown and more time doing the things you would rather be doing than sitting in the dentist’s chair!

CAD/CAM is short for “Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing” in dentistry. It provides dental restorations, such as crowns, in a more exact fit in just a fraction of the time. CAD/CAM uses the aid of a 3-D computer image of your teeth and gums so your dentist can make a precise fit.

Creating a Crown with a Perfect Fit

Once the measurements are taken for your crown, your dentist will mill a crown from a piece of porcelain right in his or her office. The process of creating this is simpler than you might think.

First, the block of porcelain is placed in the milling unit. It starts out as a simple square block but, once the process is complete, you will have a custom-designed crown that meets your mouth’s unique specifications.

Second, the block is cut with diamonds exactly the way you need it. While it can be a bit noisy during the process, the result is a crown in a small fraction of the time you would have waited even a few years ago.

Then, the tooth is painted to look more natural. Once milled, the tooth will be one color. However, if you look at your teeth, they are multiple colors. The painting and glazing process allows the tooth to look even more like your other teeth. The painting process can also be done inside of the mouth for an even more precise color match.

Once the crown is painted and glazed, it goes into the oven for the final part of the process. This process takes ten to twenty minutes, depending on what type of crown you need. The oven is heated to 800 degrees or more.

The final product is a custom fit crown! The crown will look and feel as much like a real tooth as possible.

Custom Fit Crowns in Less Than Two Hours

Once you walk into a dentist’s office with a poorly shaped tooth, you will leave in less than two hours with a tooth that is made specifically for you. From the start, when measurements are taken on the computer, to the finish, when your crown is removed from the oven and placed in your mouth, the entire process only takes about an hour and a half.

Just a few years ago, crowns took days or even weeks from start to finish. With CAD/CAM dental technology, you can have a crown that fits even better than the ones of earlier years for just a fraction of them time.

New Dental Technology Means Less Time and Pain at the Dentist

The twenty-first century ushered in incredible advances in technology in many fields. Dentistry has made incredible advances that make once complicated dental procedures a much simpler process. The technology behind CAD/CAM dentistry makes a complicated dental procedure that required multiple appointments a much simpler and frequently single appointment event. CAD/CAM dentistry is where the futures of dentistry is going.

What is CAD/CAM Dentistry?

CAD/CAM Dentistry is short for “Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing” in dentistry. This area of dentistry utilizes CAD/CAM technologies to produce different types of dental restorations with precise shapes and sizes for dental restorations, including crowns, crownlays, veneers, inlays and onlays, fixed bridges, dental implant restorations and orthodontic appliances.

Dentists use CAD/CAM technology to provide patients with durable, well-fitted single and multiple tooth restorations in a more efficient manner than traditional lab-fabricated restorations. This technology allows a typical two-visit tooth restoration to be accomplished in just one visit.

CAD/CAM dentistry designs the specific anatomical features, size and shape of a tooth restoration, which is unique for each patient, on a computer. The CAD/CAM computer screen displays a 3-D custom image of your teeth and gums, allowing your dentist to use a cursor to draw the precise design of the tooth restoration. This machine creates the restoration through a milling chamber that makes the tooth-like ceramic material into a precise replica of the drawing.

The Advantages of CAD/CAM Technology

There are a number of advantages of using the CAD/CAM technology in the dentist’s office. Each advantage is designed to give the patient the quickest and most precise treatment possible, to minimize the time and discomfort normally associated with certain dental procedures.

No more molded teeth impressions needed. If the CAD/CAM technology is located in your dentist’s office, dental technicians no longer need to make uncomfortable molds of your mouth and teeth. The computer aided dentistry cuts this step out since measurements are made with the CAD/CAM technology. This also frequently eliminates the need for a return visit to the office for a permanent restoration.

Decreased risk of infection, disease, and shifting teeth with crowns. Accuracy is important in creating the initial tooth preparation and impression for creating the crown. A crown that fits poorly can create both a higher rate of infection and disease because debris may lodge in open spaces and cause problems. Teeth also shift easier when a crown is not fitted properly. CAD/CAM technology creates a precise a fit for crowns that minimize these issues.

Porcelain tooth restoration offers natural looking tooth repair. In the past, providing a type of stable tooth restoration was nearly impossible without some form of metal material. Today's porcelain ceramics work very well in the CAD/CAM milling chamber, providing strength, durability, and a more natural, attractive look.


Biogeneric Engineering in CAD/CAM

Biogeneric engineering creates a custom fit crown that looks at your other teeth to make as precise a fit as possible. This is used on a tooth that is either broken or has a large filling. This technology takes multiple measurings and calculations of a good tooth and creates dimensions and calculations for a tooth needing a crown. This helps create a tooth that is very similar to your other teeth. In the end, you are left with a crown that is as much like your other teeth as possible.

Dental technology and the introduction of CAD/CAM has changed the way dentistry is done today. Routine dental procedures, such as crowns, are done in a fraction of the time with a better fit than ever. Not only does this cut down on time spent in the dentist’s chair, it also reduces dental complications, such as infection and shifting teeth. CAD/CAM dental technology is the future of a quicker and more precise dental experience.