Services and Procedures

Buck Rogers dentistry has come to the Dental Design Studio!
Imagine a world where porcelain crowns are designed and built by machines. They are made while you wait and read a book or listen to your favorite music and then they are bonded in place so that you walk out with a brand new tooth. Well, that day is here and actually has been for two years now at our office.

What is this technology called?
It is called Cerec® and it involves taking an optical 3D image of the prepared tooth. The restoration is created on the screen using the image data. Diamond coated instruments mill a ceramic block to reproduce the design. This is accomplished during a single appointment using Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacture (CAD/CAM).

Why is this better than a standard crown made at the lab?
To begin with, since they are made the same day there are no temporary crowns to have to wear for a few weeks while a conventional crown would be made at the lab. Since this process is digital, there is no distortion that comes from the goopy impression materials and the fit is very precise. Since we do not have lab fees, we pass this savings on to you!

In addition, since the restorations are milled out of a solid block of porcelain, there are no voids or microscopic fractures that happen with laboratory fabricated porcelain crowns. Cerec® crowns are much stronger and look great.

Are crowns the only thing that the Cerec® can make?
With this new technology we can make inlays, onlays and even veneers for front teeth. So no more stress of having to wait for a new veneer to be made at a lab and fear of a temporary veneer coming off at an inopportune moment.

It’s fun to watch too! You can see the process of the crown being designed and then milled out of the porcelain block. Then the new crown is polished and glazed so that it matches your other teeth. It’s amazingly simple yet very high tech.

We have made Cerec® restorations for many out of town visitors who appreciate being able to have the procedure completed and not have to wait until they get home. Trying to match the color of adjacent front teeth has always been hit or miss but not in our office. With stain and glaze materials that allow us to match the new restoration right next to the existing teeth, we put it in a glazing oven for a few minutes and it’s ready to bond in place.

If you have questions about this process, give us a call… we love to show it off.