If you’re like most people in Los Angeles, you enjoy convenience in every aspect of life. In other words, straightforward processes with minimal disruption to your schedule.

Multiple Appointments Can Be a Hassle

When it comes to medical or dental procedures, convenience means the fewest visits possible. Hopefully, only one visit.

Let’s review dental crowns, for example. Most men and women need a restoration like a dental crown at some point in their life. A dental crown is one of the most versatile dental restorations. It covers the entire visible portion of a tooth and can correct a damaged tooth, a tooth with a large cavity, or a tooth that has undergone a root canal. A strong, natural-looking crown protects the remaining tooth and functions like a natural tooth

Dental Crowns Used to Take at Least Two Appointments

The conventional dental crown procedure involves at least two visits. (Sometimes three or four depending on the situation.) On the first visit, the dentist would prepare the tooth and create an impression for the crown. To take impressions, the patient had to bite into a U-shaped tray filled with a thick, gooey substance (alginate or polyvinylsiloxane).

Then the dentist would send the impression to a dental lab to have the crown fabricated. This could take a couple of weeks. When the crown was finished, the patient would have to come back to the dental office to have it placed and cemented.

CEREC and E4D Same Day Crowns

Now, there are two appointment systems. The brand names are CEREC and E4D. Both systems use CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) to design and construct a perfectly-fitting crown.

CAD uses 3-D software that photographs teeth to create an exact model. In some dental practices, the patient can see the 3-D digital models on a screen during their visit.

CEREC uses an infrared camera to transmit the tooth’s exact shape to the CAD software. E4D accomplishes the same thing with laser technology. As mentioned previously, CAD is the modeling software. Once there is a precise 3-D rendering, it’s time to actually fabricate the restoration. That is what the CAM machine does. CAM is the milling process, in which small bit-like device powers at extremely high speeds to precisely sculpt a custom-fitting crown out of a ceramic block.

6 Steps For a One-Visit Dental Crown

Here is a recap of the entire same-day dental crown process:

1. Tooth Preparation. Your dentist will prepare the site for your crown by clearing away decay or portions of the damaged tooth.
2. Intraoral Scanning. Next, your dental professional will use an optical scanner to create a 3-D digital rendering of the damaged tooth and surrounding teeth.
3. Restoration Design. With the 3-D images, the dentist will use the CAD software to design the final restoration.
4. Milling. A milling machine uses the 3-D scan and precisely chisels the crown from a single small brick of ceramic.
5. Sintering and Polishing. The dentist then stains or glazes to make the surface of the dental crown look like a natural tooth. Following that, the dentist polishes the restoration to perfection.
6. Cementation. Finally, the restoration is permanently placed in your mouth. (Colgate.com)

Did we mention that this takes place in one appointment?

Need a dental crown? Call us today to book an appointment.

Contact Dr. Bill Dorfman, DDS – Century City Aesthetic Dentistry:

310-277-5678

Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):

2080 Century Park E Ste 1601
Los Angeles, California
90067