One Visit Crowns or CEREC

Time is money.  Or so they say.  At my office I have invested significant amounts of money in some of the latest and greatest technology available to dentists today.  One of my absolute favorite pieces of technology is called CEREC.  CEREC is an acronym that means Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics.  Or in other words a one visit crown machine.  If you have ever had a crown put on any of your teeth, you know it can be an ordeal.  Your first visit you get a shot, and they drill, and they put gooey stuff in your mouth that tastes like a diesel fuel sucker (YUMMY).  The gooey stuff sets up (gets hard) you pry open your mouth feeling like your having all your teeth pulled at once.
Then they make a plastic (yes I said plastic) temporary crown.  Temporaries don't fit very well, they can be very sensitive, they can fall off, and generally are a big pain in the keyster.  Then you have to wait two to three weeks while your new crown is made by a lab.  So if your lucky and your temporary doesn't fall off you come back to the office in 2-3 weeks.  You might need a second injection or shot to get numb.  Most of the time the crown fits but sometimes it doesn't.  If it doesn't you get a second shot no matter what, and more of the diesel fuel sucker, and another 2-3 weeks in a temporary then you will probably be done.  It can take up to 6 weeks just to fix one tooth.  WOW. 

Now I painted a bleak picture about the time frame.  It usually takes about 2 weeks to get a crown made and they usually fit fine.  The CEREC machine eliminates the gooey stuff the temporary and the second or even third visit.  I use a camera to take pictures of your teeth design your crown on the computer and mill it in the milling chamber.  The entire process takes about an hour and a half.  

SO, you tell me, which option sounds more pleasant?  One visit or two?  Plastic temporary tooth or tooth completely finished?

The CEREC allows me to keep costs down for my patients and to save them time.  The crowns fit like a glove.  It is really quite amazing.  I have done hundreds of these type of crown and I am still amazed at how great they fit and how nice they look.  On Monday I had a lady who lives in Alaska come into my office.  She had a cracked tooth and every time she bit on something it hurt.  She was in town for one week visiting her daughter and she doesn't have a dentist at all in her home town.  In one visit I made her a crown and she was out the door with a smile on her face.  It would have been impossible for me to help her had I not had a CEREC in my office.  

So if you love to waste time and have numerous shots and suck on diesel fuel suckers keep having crowns done the old way.  If you want to have convenience and a fast reliable crown done for less look for a dentist using the CEREC machine.

That is all