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CEREC Restoration

CEREC restoration is the in-thing today in the world of dental cosmetic and restorative methods. The biggest impetus for this method of dental restoration is that it allows the patient to get substitutes for broken and lost teeth within just one visit. Previous methods, such as using dental bridges take at least two visits. Though CEREC restoration has already become quite popular, the technology is still in its primitive stages and is quite expensive at present.

CEREC stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics . The name explains how the patient is positioned when the procedure is performed. It is a method that uses software methods to determine the exact size and shape of the tooth that is needed to be restored and the dental implant is prepared according to that in a special machine.

The CEREC Procedure

The basic procedure of a CEREC restoration involves the following steps:-

• The first step is to photograph the cavity which needs the crown fitting over it. The patient is made to sit on a special chair and a photograph of the cavity is taken. This photograph is a three-dimensional photograph which provides the images of the cavity with a great degree of detailing.
• Now, the photograph is fed into a special software application that will assess the size and the shape of the tooth and then use it to come up with the correct restoration shape and size. This is arrived at by analyzing the shapes and sizes of the abutment teeth and using comparative techniques to determine what the most correct shape for the edentulous area would be. A rough estimate is provided by the software application.
• The dentist then looks at this rough estimate and with it comes to a more concrete shape. This requires some kind of software expertise. A CAD software application is used to give the right touches to the false tooth.
• Once the proper shape is determined, it is directly inputted to a milling machine that is attached to the software application. The machine has a high precision head (usually diamond). A ceramic block is placed under the head. With directions from the finished image that was provided to it, the head moves with high precision on the ceramic block and carves out the crown.
• Once the crown is ready, it is directly fitted over the tooth in question. Cementing materials are used to make permanent crowns . Most dentists, however, use a resinous material to fuse the crown completely.

The major advantage of CEREC restoration is that the dental implants done by this method can be accomplished in just one sitting. It saves good time and also effort. However, it is a very expensive method yet and that is one of the reasons why it does not have wide-reaching popularity yet.

There is also the question of special training. Dentists need to undergo special training in order to master the CEREC devices . At the same time, these devices are extremely expensive to purchase and requires a business plan on part of the dentist.