Dental crowns, an integral part of restorative dentistry, have a significant role in maintaining oral health by restoring damaged teeth’ structure, function, and aesthetic appeal.
Marigold Dental in Federal Way uses CEREC same-day dental crown technology to repair broken teeth typically in a single visit, eliminating the need for temporary crowns that always seem to fall off and often take days out of your life for dental procedures.
CEREC technology allows dentists like Dr. Loveleen Brar to take a digital picture of a tooth, personally design your tooth with your needs in mind, mill out your new crown, and permanently adhere the crown to complete the tooth restoration. The entire process, start to finish, is completed in just a few hours.
What are dental crowns?
Dental crowns are essentially tooth-shaped caps that a dentist places over a weak, broken, or decayed tooth. Crafted meticulously by dental technicians, these caps fit like a snug hat over your tooth, providing reinforcement, protecting it, and restoring its original shape and size.
Dental crowns can be made from various materials, such as resin, metal, and porcelain. Marigold Dental uses CEREC technology to mill crowns out of zirconia and high-strength glass ceramics, both of which give the best strength and esthetics.
When are dental crowns needed?
Dental crowns serve multiple purposes, addressing various dental problems. Here are a few scenarios when dental crowns come into play:
- Strengthening weak teeth: Dental crowns provide reinforcement to teeth weakened due to decay or large fillings, thus preventing any potential breakage.
- Protecting cracked teeth: They shield the cracked tooth from further damage by holding the parts together.
- Restoring damaged teeth: Dental crowns help restore worn-down, broken, or severely damaged teeth to their original form.
- Supporting dental appliances are used to hold dental bridges or dentures in place.
- Improving aesthetic appeal: Dental crowns are a solution to cover severely stained or discolored teeth or to enhance the shape and alignment of teeth.
CEREC Crowns at Marigold Dentistry
Same-day crowns are a revolutionary advancement in the field of dentistry, bringing immense value to both patients and dentists. At the forefront of this innovation is CEREC technology.
» Learn More about CEREC same-day crown technology
One of the fundamental advantages of CEREC is its versatility in material choice. Primarily, the system uses ceramic blocks made from zirconia to create restorations. Zirconia can withstand immense pressure, making it an excellent choice for molars or patients who grind their teeth. Due to the strength of zirconia, even a thin layer can resist grinding and shearing forces.
What to Expect: The CEREC Crown Procedure
In the initial consultation, Dr. Brar examines the patient’s teeth and gums to determine if crowns are the appropriate solution for their dental issues. Crowns can address various problems, from chipped, broken, fractured, deformed, decayed, or stained teeth to gaps between teeth.
After the examination, Dr. Brar prepares the tooth for the crown. This process typically involves removing parts of the enamel from all four sides of the tooth. A pain-free local anesthetic using the Onset by Onpharma local anesthetic buffering system [link to tech page] is usually administered before this step to ensure comfort.
Don’t worry — we aren’t working in the mouth the whole time, usually just for the first 45 minutes, then designing and producing the crown is off. After that, you can leave to run an errand, stay to read a book, or relax and watch Netflix on a massage pad.
The Process:
- After preparing the tooth, Dr. Brar takes a 3D digital scan.
- Using the scan, Dr. Brar designs the tooth using in-house CAD/CAM technology and sends the design to the CRERC mill.
- Once the milling is completed, the crown is polished, stained if needed, then speed-fired to give the crown its maximal strength.
- After the crown is created, it is bonded to the patient’s tooth using dental cement, completing the treatment.
The brilliance of CEREC lies in the procedure’s simplicity and speed. Traditional crowns require at least two visits, with a wait time of around two weeks, requiring the construction and installation of a temporary crown to get you by. However, with CEREC, it’s possible to complete the entire process in a single visit, sometimes as quickly as 90 minutes.
If you need a crown, schedule a single visit with Marigold Dental in Federal Way, WA, today to experience the benefits of CEREC same-day dental crowns. Our friendly team is ready to provide you with exceptional care and guide you on your journey to a healthy, confident smile.
