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CEREC Among Top 1980s Trends?

The 1980s were an era of great change. In politics, two-term President Ronald Reagan ushered in a conservative movement. In the artistic realm, musicians like Madonna and Michael Jackson made a huge impact on music, fashion, and pop culture.

On a list of significant news events from the ’80s you would expect to see:

  • The Chernobyl nuclear disaster
  • The explosion of the Challenger space shuttle
  • The fall of the Berlin Wall
  • Multiple assassination attempts on President Reagan

CEREC probably won’t show up in any newsreels from the 1980s. Maybe it should, though, given how dramatically it has changed the way dentists like Dr. Hood Biggers work.

CEREC, which stands for Chairside Economic Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, revolutionized the way we fit you with a dental crown. You might compare it to the way the personal computer, another technology that took off in the ’80s, transformed how most office employees now get their work done.

CEREC at Biggers Family Dentistry

Our own Dr. Biggers is a big proponent of offering the most up-to-date dental technology in our Midlothian, VA dentist office. So it’s not surprising that he is one of fewer than 50,000 dentists in the world who use the CEREC system.

If you want to see how we use CEREC and other high-tech tools as part of our mission to offer the best dental care we can. Call Biggers Family Dentistry at 804-621-2199.

The CEREC Same-Day Crown Revolution

CEREC is the first dental system that incorporates computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) in the process of creating a same-day crown.

CEREC is not only cool; it’s also incredibly convenient. It makes getting a dental crown more comfortable and much, much quicker than the traditional process.

That’s because CEREC removes the middleman – the off-site dental lab where a dentist typically sends specifications for a dental crown. All of the high-tech equipment used to produce the same-day crown is located in our Midlothian, VA dentist office.

We take a digital scan of your tooth then use CAD software to create a virtual model of the tooth. This model is used to design a crown with a precise fit. We then use CAM software and a milling machine located right in our office to produce the same-day crown in under 15 minutes.

The same-day crown is made of ceramic and carefully matched to your natural tooth color. We can further customize the crown if necessary by painting, polishing, or glazing it before Dr. Biggers affixes it to your tooth. The entire CEREC same-day crown process typically requires less than three hours of your time.

CEREC Same-Day Crown vs. Traditional Dental Crown

In the old-school, non-CEREC method, a dentist would use a tray filled with a material similar to putty that you would keep in your mouth until an impression of the tooth is produced. Then the dentist would fit you with a temporary crown to wear while an off-site dental lab produces your crown, a process that can take weeks. If the temporary crown comes off during the waiting period, that will necessitate yet another trip to the dentist.

With CEREC, we use a far less obtrusive digital camera to create a model of your tooth. Then you just relax for an hour or so while we use the specialized software to create and manufacture your same-day crown. To make it an even more high-tech experience, you can check your email while you wait!

Once we create the crown, the process for affixing it to your tooth is the same as with the traditional process.

Why You Might Need a Dental Crown

Taking a step back, what are some reasons you might need a dental crown? Some of the most common reasons we see are:

  • Protecting weak or damaged teeth from fractures, so you can keep more of your natural teeth
  • Replacing a large dental filling when the tooth structure is too weak to support it
  • Restoring a broken tooth
  • Attaching a dental bridge
  • Restoring a dental implant
  • Covering a tooth that has undergone a root canal
  • Covering a discolored or misshapen tooth>

No matter why you need a crown, won’t you feel better about it if you can get it in a single visit to your dentist? Call Biggers Family Dentistry, a Midlothian, VA dentist who uses CEREC to produce same-day crowns, at 804-621-2199.