CEREC crowns and regular crowns both offer aesthetic solutions for your smile, but which is the better option for you? Let’s break down the difference between CEREC crowns and regular crowns and look at the pros and cons of each type.
What Are Dental Crowns?
A crown is a repair method used by dentists to reinforce compromised teeth or to replace missing teeth. It can enhance your smile by correcting aesthetic issues.
Traditionally, crowns were made by hand by shaping the porcelain block to the desired shape, then glazing it to appear more natural. Regular crowns require a lot of work to make, as they are constructed using a mold in an off-site lab. This process is time consuming, unlike the CEREC machine.
A CEREC machine — which stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramic — can be used to design and create crowns from porcelain that fit over the damaged tooth and blend naturally with your smile. The process is quick and simple, and often more practical for patients than the traditional method.
CEREC Crowns vs. Regular Crowns
How does the CEREC machine stand up to the traditional process? Let’s compare the CEREC pros and cons with those of regular crowns.
CEREC Crowns Pros and Cons
A CEREC crown can be applied in one visit, as opposed to a process of two or more weeks with traditional crowns.
The CEREC machine takes highly accurate photos of your teeth to construct a model made exactly for you. A crown is then milled from a block of porcelain to your specifications and then color-matched to your teeth. Your dentist will fit and attach the completed crown to your teeth. The entire procedure takes just a couple hours, so you can have your new crowns completed and set in one visit to the dentist.
It’s hard to find drawbacks for the crowns made by the CEREC machine. Since the CEREC crowns are developed digitally, there’s no need for traditional impressions. CEREC crowns are more comfortable to make, as well as more convenient for both dentists and patients. Also, since less manual labor is required to construct and attach CEREC crowns, they’re often more affordable than regular crowns. With a simple and stress-free appointment, upgrading your smile is easier than ever before.
Regular Crowns Pros and Cons
Regular crowns serve the same basic purposes of CEREC crowns. They are also successful at providing extra strength to weakened teeth and correcting aesthetic issues. In contrast to CEREC crowns, however, the traditional method is much more time consuming and potentially uncomfortable for the patient.
Regular crowns require thorough impressions to be taken, which means dealing with the notorious trays of molding goop. The crowns then have to be made by hand in a dental laboratory, which can take up to a few weeks. Patients are required to have multiple visits for a simple crown, and may have to wear a temporary crown before the permanent one is ready.
This may have been a common practice in the past, but now that there’s a simpler way to create personalized crowns faster, the traditional method seems outdated and inefficient.
If you think a CEREC crown would be better for you, talk to your dentist. With their specific knowledge of your teeth and dental concerns, they’ll be able to recommend the best solution to give you a better, healthier smile.
Interested in the benefits of CEREC crowns? Let us know! Dr. Mogren uses CEREC crowns to give his patients a more convenient and comfortable experience. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Mogren, and we can see how a CEREC crown can help you.
