Beauty of Same-Day Crowns
Getting a dental crown can take a fortnight or longer, with at least two trips to the dentist, each requiring anesthesia. Now, there’s a much faster, streamlined option – you can have state-of-the-art same-day crown treatment in a couple of hours or less, typically with better results.
Perfected over three decades, same-day crown technology avoids the need for gungy impressions and a temporary crown.
Laser scanning and computer design and manufacturing in same-day crown treatment also eliminates the possibility of human error that can happen with conventional methods of taking impressions and manually fabricating crowns.
What do Dental Crowns Do?
A dental crown – also called a tooth cap – goes over a tooth and enhances the appearance by restoring its shape and size.
Besides cosmetic benefits, tooth-shaped, custom-made crowns also strengthen teeth and are often placed when a damaged tooth has lost too much structure to take a filling.
Crowns can also be used to:
- Protect a tooth after a root filling.
- Conceal a filling that’s become stained.
- Help secure a bridge or denture.
- Cover a dental implant.
Crowns have a high success rate and are an effective long-term solution, providing more protection than a filling. Because a crown encases the entire visible portion of a tooth, it holds the tooth structure together and can withstand strong biting force without sustaining damage. Crowns provide an effective alternative to large fillings, which can jeopardize the structural integrity of a tooth.
The Same-Day Crown Process
The first and final stages of getting crowns in a day are the same as with conventional crowns. In each case, before a crown can be placed over the remaining piece of a tooth, the tooth has to be filed to the right shape – often an irreversible procedure. The process ends with the crown being fixed in place with dental cement or a similar adhesive that creates a seal.
All crowns are customized to match surrounding teeth in size, shape, and color. Having a crown placed feels similar to getting a filling with a local anesthetic. Regular crowns are often made from porcelain but can come in various other materials, including metal alloys and gold. Same-day crowns are ceramic.
Fitting a crown has traditionally entailed at least two separate sessions in the dental chair a couple of weeks apart, while you have a temporary crown. Now, thanks to advances in dental technology, some dentists can offer a same-day crown service.
After your tooth has been reshaped to prepare it for the crown, instead of taking conventional impressions and having to send them off to a lab for fabrication, the same-day crown service takes advantage of cutting-edge technology like the CEREC.
This chairside Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) process enables same-day crown treatment with high-grade ceramic material compatible with oral tissue.
CEREC bypasses the need for impressions – and messy putty trays or powders. Your dentist uses a hand-held laser scanner to capture 3D images of the area of the tooth that’s getting the crown.
Then, with the help of special software, a virtual model and plan are created for your crown placement. Eliminating the need for lab fabrication, an CEREC milling unit makes your customized crown.
Advantages of Same-Day Crowns
In terms of convenience, quality, and fast treatment, same-day crowns – generally costing about the same as regular crowns – offer a host of advantages over the traditional crown process.
These benefits include:
- Saving you time and the inconvenience of more than one dental appointment.
- No need for a temporary crown, which can cause discomfort.
- Your tech-generated tooth-colored ceramic crown will restore your tooth to full function while blending seamlessly with adjacent teeth – perfect for your front teeth.
- Milled-ceramic crowns are stronger than conventional crowns produced by layering and pressing and maybe more suitable if you have metal allergies.
- In some cases, other dental work can be worked into the same-day crown procedure.
- A non-invasive procedure, with no gooey impressions that can be distressing if you have a strong gag reflex.
Same-day crowns can be kept clean with normal oral hygiene. Fluoride toothpaste will help to prevent decay where your tooth meets the edge of the crown. On the downside, same-day crowns – like regular crowns – can sometimes get chipped. However, with proper care, your crown can last up to 15 years.
Another potential pitfall is that the intraoral scanners used in same-day crown treatment may not be able to capture a precise image deep into the gums. This means that if there’s a problem beneath the gum line, standard crowns may guarantee a better fit.
Nevertheless, more and more patients are opting for same-day crowns because they offer so many advantages over all.
Are Same-Day Crowns Right for Me?
If you lead a busy life, lengthy crown treatment involving more than one appointment is the last thing you need.
Dentists who keep up to speed with developments in dental techniques and treatments no longer have to take impressions and send them to a lab or create temporary crowns, which are often ill-fitting. As a result, the second visit to the traditional dental crown process has been eliminated.
Same-day crowns represent the latest in dental technology and science, but not all dental practices are equipped to offer this fast treatment. Once you’ve found a dentist specializing in same-day crowns, you can go to the dental office and walk out with your teeth – and your smile – fully restored.
The technology behind same-day crowns allows your dentist to get an extremely accurate picture of the shape of your mouth, which results in a more precise fit for your crown. If your crown fits better and is designed with more accuracy, it will look far more aesthetically appealing.
And there will be none of the problems associated with temporary crowns, such as discomfort and issues with eating and talking. Furthermore, you won’t have to take as much time off work.
However, not all teeth can be treated with a same-day crown. A dentist experienced in crown treatments including same-day crowns will be able to advise you whether same-day crowns are right for you.
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