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.
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