Chances are you don’t know what CEREC is and you might not even know if your dentist uses it. CEREC technology is an advanced dental tool where 3-d photos are taken of your tooth and a perfect restoration for the tooth can be made from a milling machine right there at the dentist’s office in a matter of minutes.

It’s rather amazing to watch. There are no temporary or second visits. You get everything you need done in a matter of minutes instead of in a number of visits.

So how does this system work?

Using this computer system a dentist can take a 3-dimensional photo of your tooth, then using a computer assisted design program he shapes the new tooth or crown to perfection. Next colored ceramic blocks from which the new tooth or crown will be made are looked over to find the best matching color to your teeth. Once the colored block is chosen it’s placed into the CEREC milling chamber - from there the magic begins. The milling chamber cuts the block into the exact shape the dentist designed on the computer. In all it takes only a few minutes for the block to be cut into it’s perfect shape. Plus the milling chamber is actually much smaller than you might expect - it’s comparable to a mid-size printer.

And once the block is shaped the dentist simply places this into your mouth using dental cement and any other needed materials. So total the process is over in one visit and you’re ready to get back to enjoying life. Those days of getting a temporary and having to come back to have it fitted are now long gone!

So next time you visit your Atlanta dentist ask him about CEREC.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 3:39 am and is filed under Cosmetic Dentistry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.