Just ten years ago, a dental patient who needed a new crown or other replacement of missing sections of a tooth would need to go to the Dentist in Newnan to get an impression made of the tooth. The dentist would then grind the tooth down to make room for the new crown and then fit the patient with a temporary crown. Then, the patient would have to come back for a second appointment to get the temporary crown removed and have the new crown permanently bonded to the tooth.
A newer development in dental technology called CEREC allows the dentist to make new inlays, onlays, crowns, and veneers for you which will be all white and made of ceramic. CEREC stands for Chairside Economical Restorations of Esthetic Ceramic.
Not all dental insurances cover ceramic work, and they only pay for the silver amalgam material. In that case, the patient would be responsible to pay for the cost difference between the two. Your dentist may use CEREC if they believe the ceramic to be a better option. Ceramic doesn’t contain any mercury or other metals, like amalgam does. There may be a health risk associated with having mercury in dental materials, although that is not necessarily supported by the FDA.
However, the dentist may prefer to use ceramic over amalgam purely for cosmetic reasons, too. From a cosmetic viewpoint, particularly in the aesthetic zone, which is the section of your teeth that people see when you smile and speak, it looks better to have tooth colored material instead of silver. Also, some patients may have ceramic bonded on top of amalgam, and if the ceramic chips off in places, people can see the silver showing beneath it.
The use of CEREC allows for same-day crowns. The dentist uses a small camera to take pictures of your tooth. The software then creates a three-dimensional representation of your full tooth. After the CAD software creates a 3D picture of your tooth, the results go to the dentist’s milling device in his office, and in about 20 minutes, the dentist comes back with your brand new crown all ready to put in. It only takes a few minutes to grind your old tooth down to make room for the crown, and then he will attach the new crown for you.
