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cerec crowns pros sydney

Cerec Crowns Pros and Cons – Know What To Expect

You may be surprised to learn that Cerec technology has been around since 1983, when Sirona dental systems introduced their first CEREC 1 unit, yet it’s only in the last decade or so that the technique has become more popular. As a result, there are many positive reasons to undergo Cerec restorations. However, it wouldn’t be fair to conventional restorations – which have served us well for many years – if we didn’t look at Cerec technology objectively. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at Cerec crowns pros and cons.

First the advantages…

Cerec crowns are time saving

In recent years, Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramic (CEREC) crowns have produced a more efficient and technologically advanced method of restoring teeth. Conventionally, patients will undergo an impression-taking process and from this, a central dental lab will fabricate a restoration. This usually initiates a turnaround time of at least 1-2 weeks, and several visits before the patient receives their permanent crown.

Conversely, with Cerec crowns, every aspect of the process is handled on-site at the dental clinic, that same day! From the digital impression taking, through to the final fitting of the newly manufactured crown, patients can expect a wait of no longer than 1-2 hours.

Cerec Crowns are less invasive

Let’s face it, nobody likes to undergo conventional impression taking. It’s notoriously messy, in addition to being gag-inducing for many patients. For the dentist as well, getting the impression right requires a lot of patience and a great deal of skill.

Cerec crowns, on the other hand, do away with gag-inducing alginate in favour of digital imaging. These produce 3D virtual impressions of the restoration site. These images are transferred directly to a computerised milling machine located on-site which then fabricates an exact match ceramic crown.

Not only is the latter far less invasive for the patient, but also, because there is minimal human intervention, any Cerec crowns are incredibly accurate and require little or no reworking.

No temporary Cerec crowns are necessary

During a conventional crown procedure, a dentist will sometimes fit a temporary crown until the permanent one can be issued. Often this isn’t always a great fit and sometimes ill-fitting temporaries have been known to cause injury to the gum. With same-day Cerec Crowns, temporaries aren’t required as a patient will go from broken tooth to permanent crown in just a few hours.

Cerec crowns require Little or no re-work

Because digital milling machines can produce pinpoint accurate replicas, patients will find that in most cases their Cerec crowns will fit perfectly the first time, with little or no adjustment needed for bite. With conventional crowns, however, many human elements could go wrong. It could be that…

cerec crowns sydney cerec crowns pros and cons no gaps dental

  • The dentist failed to take a perfect-match impression
  • The dental technician has made the crown with imperfections and failed to notice
  • Cheaper quality or inferior materials may be used than were requested, or…
  • There may simply be a lack of communication between dentists and dental lab resulting in translucency or esthetic errors.

Any of the above can cause restoration errors, but most of these are eliminated when a patient opts for Cerec crowns.

Cerec crowns are aesthetically better

Aesthetically speaking, there is no other type of crown that looks better and feels better in the mouth than Cerec crowns. With help from their dentist, patients can select the nearest colour-match from the ceramic blocks available. For even greater authenticity, the dentist can paint and polish the ceramic tooth before it’s kiln-dried to perfectly match any existing teeth. This gives a flawless finish and appearance to a smile.

So those are the advantages that same-day Cerec crowns can bring, but as we promised to look at both the Cerec crowns pros and cons, it’s probably a good time to take a look at the disadvantages.

Cerec crowns aren’t as strong as some types of conventional crowns

Cerec crowns are made from a single ceramic block and while they tend to be pretty strong, traditional crowns can be made from combination materials like porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) or single material restorations such as metal. Not only does metal bond better to the tooth but traditional crowns can also be more resistant to wear and tear making them more durable.

Cerec Crowns aren’t ideal for all teeth

Unfortunately, Cerec Crowns aren’t ideal for every tooth, particularly in situations where a tooth fracture extends below the gum line. The reason is that the camera is unable to capture the full extent of the damage. In these instances, a traditional crown using traditional impression taking could well be a better fit.

Cerec technology can cost more

Even though Cerec crowns do away with the cost of using an off-site dental lab this is offset by the fact that they utilise some of the latest technology. Unfortunately, cutting-edge technology of this nature doesn’t come cheap. As a result, Cerec Crowns can cost slightly more.

That said, while there may be a cost increase, you may want to consider what price you would pay for better aesthetics, greater convenience, and an all-round less-invasive procedure.

So there you have it… the Cerec Crowns pros and cons explained. Hopefully, this has given you enough information to make a better-informed dental decision.

Here at No Gaps Dental, we’re a multi-location dental group with family-friendly clinics spread throughout the Sydney Metro area. We offer both conventional crowns and digital Cerec crowns utilising the latest Cerec technology. If you have a cracked, broken or damaged tooth, why not visit our website to see the nearest clinic near you. Then book an appointment where our experienced team will be only too happy to go through your options with you.

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