This procedure is not only convenient for patients with busy schedules but for people who just hate visiting the dentist, for any reason. The CEREC restoration system gives beautiful, natural all-ceramic restorations – crowns, onlays and inlays. The procedure involves using a computer to gain a vantage point when sculpting it — getting a better fit than most lab work.

Here are some reasons why CEREC may be a good option:

• No temporaries; It takes just one visit for the real thing.
• The material is similar to enamel-natural look and feel.
• No need for impression trays.
• Result is a beautiful, natural smile with color-matched ceramic.
• Proven success worldwide.

The procedure is simple. Your family dentist, such as Wayzata Dental & Smile Spa, will determine if CEREC is the appropriate treatment for your case. He may determine if you need inlays, onlays, or full crown. The process also involves removing any decay or weak tooth tissue. This treatment uses a sophisticated system of designing and making high quality, metal-free dental restorations in one visit. CEREC utilizes 3D photography and CAD/CAM technology to assist a dentist in designing a virtual restoration without taking impressions and can build the actual restoration while you are still in the chair.

As a Minnetonka cosmetic dental office, we offer other treatments including teeth whitening and veneers. You can conveniently make an appointment online or give us a call.

With CEREC, you don’t have to wait for the crown to arrive from a lab, and you don’t have to visit our office for a second appointment. It’s fast and convenient. CEREC also eliminates the need for messy impressions and temporary crowns. This state-of-the-art technology is backed by decades of research and delivers results that are highly esthetic, durable, and long-lasting. Wayzata Dental & SmileSpa, a Minnetonka cosmetic dentistry, is pleased to offer this comfort- and convenience-enhancing technology to patients.
But what are dental crowns?

Dental crowns are most often made of gold or porcelain, although they can also be made of stainless steel. Stainless steel crowns are typically used for primary teeth in children, because they’re temporary and not designed for long-term wear.

Yes, gold crowns are still worn and are biocompatible – they will not fracture. They’re generally reserved for teeth that don’t show when you smile. Porcelain crowns are often built on a metal base to provide additional strength and support for back teeth. All-porcelain crowns, which contain no metal, provide an excellent solution to restore front teeth and maintain a natural-looking smile.

Visit us at Wayzata Dental. Our dentist, Dr. Jason McDowell, and staff are committed to helping you find best and most natural option for your teeth. We will direct you in the right direction!

Veteran patients will tell you that Cerec tooth restoration is convenient, and your family dentist may tell you that it is also healthy. In the past, dentists had few options to repair decayed and damaged teeth other than amalgam, gold, and other metals. However, today, with Cerec, dentist scan use strong, tooth colored ceramic materials to restore teeth to their natural strength, beauty, and function.

What exactly is Cerec? It closely matches the composition of tooth structure by expanding and contracting at almost equal rates. Also, the materials are chemically bonded to your tooth, so your dentist can save as much healthy tooth tissue as possible while providing you with a strong and healthy restoration process.

The good thing is that your dentist can use Cerec for more than just crowns and fillings. It can also be used for chipped or discolored teeth.

Call Wayzata Dental and SmileSpa. We offer Cerec restorations and can tell you more about its benefits. You can either call our office or make an appointment online.

The procedure is quite straightforward. An image is taken of your tooth and computer software is used to create a digital copy of the required restoration. This is then fed into a special piece of equipment that creates a restoration that perfectly matches the missing part of the tooth. This technology can be used to create ceramic dental crowns, veneers, inlays, and onlays, and the good news for you is that it can be done quickly and accurately.

By having the option to produce these restorations while you wait, you only require one visit to your dentist. More importantly, you only have to experience the treatment once. In the past, your dentist would prepare the tooth, take a cast, which was then sent of to a technician, then place a temporary restoration in place. When you returned, the temporary restoration had to be removed before the permanent restoration could be put in place. CEREC technology does away with that temporary restoration and the need to return – the tooth is prepared and the permanent restoration put in place almost immediately. Technology is everywhere, even in your dentist’s office.

CEREC, or CEramic REConstruction, is a chair-side dental procedure that can be used to replace fillings, create wafer thin veneers, or to produce perfect crowns. Because the procedure can be completed in one sitting, the patient can save a lot of time and inconvenience.

The technology, while complex in design, is simple in concept. The dentist prepares the tooth for the procedure and uses a special 3D camera to create a digital image of the tooth. The dentist then uses special software to fine tune the image before sending it to a special milling machine that produces the finished product. That milling machine is able to sculpt a crown or veneer, for example, to the finest detail, making for a perfect fit.

Once the dentist is happy with the end product, it is permanently fixed in place. While that process sounds time consuming, it generally isn’t – the total time required is far less than the normal two visits required for standard veneers or crown. The end result is perfect, and as a patient, you’re safe in the knowledge that the crown or veneer has been created for your tooth and your mouth. CEREC technology saves time for you and for your dentist.

How does it work? In the past, your dentist would prepare your tooth for a particular treatment – for example, a crown, veneer, cap, onlay, or inlay. This preparation often involved a local anesthetic injection to numb the tooth. Your dentist would then place a tray of goop in your mouth to make an impression of the prepared tooth. This tray was then sent off to a technician who would then create a custom fit restoration.

In the meantime, your dentist would apply a temporary restoration that would sit in place until your custom fit appliance was ready. A week or two later you would return to the dentist, succumb to another local anesthetic so your dentist could remove the temporary restoration, clean the area, and then attach the custom fit restoration.

The difference between that technology and Cerec is huge. First, the whole process is done in one visit, this means only the one local anesthetic. Your dentist prepares the tooth as before, but rather than taking a mold, your dentist will use computer imagery to map your tooth (including color). With this information, a dedicated machine can make a custom fit restoration right there while you wait. It will be perfect in size, shape, and color. Your dentist can then polish the restoration and fix it where it needs to go.

That’s it. No second visit, no second local anesthetic. You can enter your dentists office with a broken tooth and leave with a complete restoration – and not need to return for a second visit – now that has to be good for your pocket.

Dentists can perform inlay, onlay, crown and veneer restorations using the Cerec technology. The real advances since it was first developed have been in the computer technology available. Anyone that has been involved in computers over the last 25 years will appreciate how quickly Cerec has advanced. Dentists can now take digital three-dimensional photos of a patient’s teeth. A computer can then help the dentist to create a ceramic replacement for the area to be restored.

These restorations can be done in one visit, one of the biggest advantages to this technology. Other treatment options generally require two or three visits and involve the services of an outside laboratory. Using Cerec, a dentist can perfectly match color shape and size while the patient is waiting.

Because of the precision provided by Cerec, a dentist can preserve as much of the original tooth as possible. This means the restoration is smaller and since the materials used are first class, the finished result closely matches the original tooth in color and strength. Cerec restorations are generally long lasting and provide the same protection against hot and cold foods and drinks as natural healthy teeth.

Cerec is a technology that can be used in most situations. It is certainly worth discussing with your dentist if you are looking at crowns, inlays, onlays, or veneers – a one visit Cerec restoration may be just right for you.

In the past, your dentist would most likely have used anesthetic to numb a tooth before preparing it for restoration. A mold would have been made and sent off to have your ceramic created. In the meantime, your dentist would have used a temporary restoration to protect the tooth. On your second visit, the temporary restoration would have been pried off (again using anesthetic) and the new restoration then fixes into place.

With the Cerec process, everything is done in the one visit. The tooth is prepared and technology such as 3D photography and CAD/CAM used to assist the dentist in the process. The result is that as much of the tooth as possible is saved. The ceramic restoration is chemically bonded to the tooth so they become one. This provides added strength to the tooth while restoring it to its former self.

Today’s ceramic technology is smart, producing ceramic material that can shrink and expand at the same rate as a tooth – useful when drinking icy cold drinks or eating hot foods. Cerec restorations are long lasting and, when you consider the one visit restoration process, is well worth investigating if you have problem teeth. Talk to your dentist to find out more on this procedure.

The reason we capitalize the letters in the term is because it is an abbreviation. CEREC stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics. Now you know it is about restoration of teeth. The reason it is different from regular restoration process is that it is a one-sitting restoration of teeth with the help of computers and certain software.

What exactly happens in the CEREC restoration? With the help of three-dimensional imaging and the technology of Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing, popularly known as CAD/CAM, a ceramic crown or veneer is created which is then fixed into the patient’s mouth.

The patient’s tooth is coated with a powder-like material and then a three-dimensional image is taken. With the help of appropriate software, a design of the perfect restoration is created. The restoration can be anything – veneer, crown, inlay, or onlay. The design is passed down to machines that create the restoration in a matter of minutes.

The fact that the process gets over in one sitting is a huge advantage. What are the other advantages of CEREC? Well, it ensures that patients are free from any discomfort arising out of temporary crowns or filing prior to the final restoration.

Now that you know why CEREC is popular, ask your dentist about it in your next visit.

Happy smiling!

So, what happens in this CEREC restoration? Which dental procedures are supported by CEREC? Crowns, veneers, inlays, onlays are all supported by CEREC and the experience changes dramatically for you. CEREC differs from other procedures in the way the restorations are created. Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) along with 3-D imaging help create crowns, veneers, inlays, and onlays.

Your tooth will be coated with a powder-like substance first when you go for CEREC. Next, a 3-D image of your tooth will be taken. A software will help design the restoration you need. Later this design will be used to manufacture the perfect restoration for your tooth. And it will take no more than a few minutes.

Now, as you can see, CEREC saves time. The procedure gets over in one visit to the dentist, so you don’t have to live with the uncomfortable temporary fillings. If you have queries about the procedure, you can ask the dentist before going for it.

If you are in Minneapolis, you can visit the Wayzata Dental Clinic for the CEREC experience.

Happy smiling!