Regain Your Smile In Just One Visit with Same-Day Crowns

The traditional process of getting a dental crown can be quite an inconvenience, often requiring multiple office visits and a few weeks out of your already busy life. Fortunately, those days of waiting are over! At Glacier Creek Dental, you can receive your permanent dental crowns in just one office visit. 

Your same-day crowns are created in our Fort Collins office with the CEREC system, which allows us to scan, design and mill your new crowns with same-day convenience and precision. This latest advancement in restorative dentistry is fast and precise, providing the following advantages over traditional, lab-made dental crowns:

  • No messy silicone molds
  • No waiting for 3rd party dental labs to finish
  • No temporary crowns to wear
  • No multiple visits, the permanent crown is customized and bonded to your tooth the same-day

What Should I Expect with CEREC Same-Day Crowns?

The procedure for same-day crowns is similar to getting traditional lab-made crowns, but with fewer steps and no 3rd-party dental lab. To prepare for treatment, the tooth and surrounding gum are numbed to alleviate any pain or discomfort during the procedure. Then, your dentist carefully files and reshapes the receiving tooth to make room for your same-day crown. Digital scans are made of your teeth and gums using CAD/CAM technology, which are submitted to the milling unit for the modeling and fabrication of your new crown. In the meantime, you can relax while your crown is being manufactured and customized by the milling machine. Once the crown is finished, it is examined for fit, comfort and color before being bonded permanently to your tooth.

Proper post-procedure care is essential for ensuring optimal results and speedy healing. During the first 24 hours, it is best that you avoid eating sticky or tough-to-chew foods, as this may irritate your newly bonded tooth. Once the critical period has passed, you can go back to eating and drinking as you normally do. While it’s possible to experience lingering sensitivity in the crown or surrounding gum tissue, it is fortunately temporary and should disappear within a few weeks.

How CEREC Technology is Revolutionizing Dentistry

CEREC dentistry is a popular buzzphrase in the field of dentistry today, but do you know why and what it is? CEREC, short for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics dentistry is a method of CAD/CAM dentistry that allows your dentist to produce a ceramic restoration in his office using 3D technology and printing. CEREC dentistry has been around since 1987, but has gained momentum in the dental industry as technology has continued to expand and grow. CEREC dentistry can be used to treat/fill/crown teeth that are decayed, broken, and weakened. Natural strength and beauty can be restored with tooth-colored materials all in a single appointment. Learn how this technology can impact your dental experience at Glacier Creek Dental.

What is CEREC Dentistry?

CEREC dentistry with the CAD/CAM system has been on the market for a good 30 years now. In this time, over 250 scientific studies have confirmed the clinical safety of CEREC tooth restorations. Worldwide, more than 30 million tooth restorations have been produced with CEREC. CEREC utilizes 3D photography and CAD/CAM technology to assist a dentist in designing a virtual restoration (onlay, inlay, crown, or bridge) without taking impressions. When combined with a milling unit, CEREC can build the actual restoration while you are still in the chair.

Why Do Patients Prefer the CEREC System of Care?

Dental science and technology is constantly looking for ways to improve the patient experience—both in treatment effectiveness and comfort. Glacier Creek Dental stays up-to-date on the most recent technological tools and techniques. Even though CEREC dentistry has been available for a few decades, some dentists have been slow to invest in the technology. Our patients love our use of CEREC technology in our office because it offers restorations that are:

  • Convenient
  • Efficient and Long-Lasting
  • Precise and Made Onsite
  • Comfortable
  • Biocompatible (Metal-Free Materials)

Convenient

Before the CEREC system entered the picture, restorative dentistry required multiple visits to your dental office. But with the CEREC system you can have your inlays, onlays, crowns, bridges or veneers done in one appointment. The ability to receive the dental care you need in one visit makes treatment more convenient and attractive. Patients are less likely to postpone a needed dental treatment or procedure when they know they can have their restoration work completed in one visit rather than multiple.

Efficient

CEREC dentistry is more efficient because it eliminates the need for multiple visits and it incorporates computer technology that eliminates the need for traditional impressions, sending molds to labs for processing, and refitting appointments. With CEREC technology your dentist is your designer. He can work with you to obtain the perfect fit and the perfect look all in one appointment. CEREC products are also longer-lasting, because of their more precise fit, the strength of the bonding technology, and the durability of the ceramic and resins used to make your restoration.

On-site Precision-Crafting

With traditional restorations, it is not uncommon for a crown to return from the lab and have it not fit correctly. Restorations that have to be fabricated offsite add a middle man to the process. With CEREC technology your restorations are made with in-house CAD/CAM systems that provide a type of accuracy that just isn’t found with traditional impression methods for creating crowns. The CEREC system’s use of digital imaging provides a more accurate design image for the crafting of your crown. The accuracy of CEREC dentistry means that your restoration will fit more precisely, requiring less adjustments and return visits to your dental office. If something doesn’t feel right, your dentist can adjust it right then and there without you needing to wait for it to be sent off to a dental lab for reworking.

Comfortable

CEREC dentistry makes the whole restorative-dentistry process more comfortable. Patients can forego the former, gag-inducing impression process and enjoy the benefits of digital impressions. The precision-crafting of CEREC products provide a more accurate and comfortable fit so patients can leave the office with greater comfort.

Biocompatible, Metal-Free Materials

Dentists are dedicated to your oral health and your total body wellness. Because of this, we try and avoid introducing any dental materials into our mouth that could be potentially hazardous. Amalgam fillings—a common, metal material used in the past for dental fillings—is now being replaced with composite fillings made of biocompatible porcelain or ceramic. These materials are safer for the health of your body because they don’t contain toxic compounds or the mercury that metal fillings do.

Experience the Benefits of CEREC Dentistry

Using the E4D Dental system, your same-day restorations are created in our Fort Collins office. The E4D Dental system allows us to scan, design, and mill your new crowns with same-day convenience and precision. This latest advance in restorative dentistry is fast and precise, providing the following benefits over traditional methods:

  • no messy silicone molds
  • no waiting for 3rd party dental labs to finish
  • no temporary crowns to wear
  • no multiple visits, the permanent crown is customized and bonded to your tooth the same-day

Call for a Free CEREC Dentistry Consultation

If you’d like to know more about the benefits of CEREC Dentistry, or if you’d like to make an appointment, call Glacier Creek Dental today at (970) 267-0993 or click here to contact us.