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Same Day Dentistry – Too Good to Be True?

In a world of same-day shipping and same-day photo prints, your dental restorations can now be same-day services too! This is thanks to CEREC® milling machines and digital imaging technology. CEREC is short for “ceramic reconstruction”. This technology has been around since the early 1980s and it’s only gotten better with time, for both dentists and patients.

CEREC machines use CAD/CAM technology–computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing. They allow your San Antonio dentist to make and install a dental crown–and other restorations–all in the same visit. This is very good news if you have a chipped tooth or a very bad cavity that needs to be treated immediately.

So what exactly is CEREC? How does it work? And more importantly, what does it do for you? Mark J. Williamson DDS explains more below.

Benefits for Patients

The main benefits of CEREC same day dentistry include:

Faster service with fewer appointments
Fewer injections for numbing the area
No messy impressions with digital technology
No temporary crown or waiting period
Accurate, detailed, biocompatible molds

Using a CEREC machine allows your dentist to do all of the dental restoration work in the same office, on the same day. As much as we like you and enjoy spending time with you, we know you have other places to be. Your teeth have important work to do all day long and it’s hard to be without any of them if they are cracked or severely decayed. We want to see your smile returned to full health and beauty as soon as you need it – today!

Anyone who has played the game Telephone knows what it means for something to be “lost in translation.” Sometimes this happens when dental offices need crowns to be made in an offsite laboratory where they send impressions. By keeping the whole process in-house, CEREC technology increases your chance of getting the perfect crown the very first time.

If you’re interested in holistic dentistry, CEREC can also help you get a more biocompatible crown. This means the dental piece will work as smoothly as possible within the whole system of your mouth and body.

CEREC® Crown vs. Traditional Laboratory Crown

Almost any smile restoration you need can be completed or aided with the help of CEREC. So how does it work exactly? Let’s first look at the traditional way dental crowns get made. Traditionally, to install a crown, the dentist will:

Clean the tooth and prepare it for a crown
Take impressions of the tooth using trays
Pour liquid stone in the trays to create a unique tooth mold
Send the mold to an off-site lab
Fit you with a temporary crown to wear for the next few weeks
A lab tech then creates the crown by using layers of dental porcelain on the mold
The crown goes through a firing-finishing process
The crown is sent back to the dentist’s office for installation
The temporary is removed, and the final crown is fitted

The whole process takes weeks and at least two separate visits for patients.

With CEREC, the dentist is able to take very accurate scans and photos of the tooth, and create and place the crown on the same day:

Your tooth still gets cleaned and prepared
Using a very light layer of reflective dust on your tooth, and a scanning wand picking up the reflections, the dentist gets a digital picture of your tooth and all its surfaces
The scan creates a perfect 3D digital model
The digital model helps the dentist be sure the tooth is properly prepared, as well as creates a mold for the crown
The milling machine then carves the crown out of a block of ceramic in about five minutes
The dentist can be sure the crown perfectly fits your tooth right there
The crown is glazed and finished
The crown is installed, restoring your tooth’s natural appearance and function the same day

What Can CEREC Do For You?

CEREC can create perfect models of your teeth for crowns, veneers, fillings, and bridges.

If you have any need for restorative dentistry in San Antonio, call Mark J. Williamson DDS to make an appointment today!

The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.