Dental Implant Options: What Is CEREC? by Meredi Wagner-Hoehn

Due to a national need, dental implant technology has been developing rapidly. CEREC® represents a component of that development, allowing crowns to be created in your Austin dentist’s office without having to be sent off to a lab technician.

What Is CEREC®?

CEREC® is offered through a company called Sirona. Founded in 1997, Sirona primarily produces dental equipment, but they also invest in dental research to be able to offer the most cutting-edge, innovative products to their customers. CEREC stands for CEramic REConstruction, since CEREC® creates ceramic-based crowns. Over 15 million CEREC® procedures have occurred worldwide, according to Sirona’s website.

CEREC® creates material for inlays, onlays, veneers, crowns and dental implants. Although there are a variety of ceramic materials which the periodontist can choose to fabricate the composite blocks of the crown, they are all ceramic, allowing them to blend in with the coloration of natural teeth.

For normal crown creation, a patient must make two dentist appointments. The first appointment lets your Austin periodontist creates an impression, then they send it off and a laboratory creates the permanent crown from the impression. The second appointment involves the actual installation of the new crown. CEREC® cuts out the middle man, using “Computer-Assisted Design-Computer-Assisted Manufacture” or “CAD-CAM.” This technology allows a computer to create the crown instead of an outsourced lab technician.

CEREC® Advantages

The biggest advantage to in-office crown creations is inherent in the title – they are conducted entirely in-office. It offers convenience and savings to the patient. No temporary crown is required to bridge the gap between the mold and the permanent crown; temporary crowns, because they’re generic, tend to irritate people’s gum tissue. The savings your Austin periodontist gets from eliminating an outsourced job comes back to you, saving you the cost of the lab.

Since they’re entirely ceramic, CEREC® crowns blend in cosmetically with the rest of your smile.

CEREC® Disadvantages

Although they blend in with your teeth better than a metal filling, CEREC® crowns use a single block to create the crown, eliminating the visual textures inherent to organic teeth.

Many dentists do not offer CEREC®.

If you’re interested in an efficient dental implant in Austin, TX, schedule a free consultation with Dr. Williamson. Dr. Mike Williamson, DDS, is a top dental implant specialist in the Austin area.