HOW ARE CONVENTIONAL CROWNS MADE?  - Usually a crown takes two visits: on the first visit, the tooth is prepared by being shaved down somewhat. An impression is taken of your teeth, and this impression is sent to a laboratory where your crown will be made. Meanwhile, you wear a temporary crown made of some type of plastic material.

On your second appointment, the temporary is removed and the durable crown is placed on your tooth.

CEREC ONE-VISIT CROWNS - A recent innovation available in the office of Dr. Melvin Pierson is the "Computer-assisted design-Computer-assisted manufacture" crown,

or "CAD-CAM."  This crown is milled by a computer to fit your tooth precisely, thus eliminating the laboratory step in manufacturing the crown.

With CEREC'S CAD-CAM technology, the crown is made by a computer while you wait, therefore eliminating the second appointment and the temporary crown. These CEREC crowns are milled out of block of pure ceramic.

CEREC technology can also be used to manufacture porcelain fillings. Remember that CEREC crowns are milled out of a single block of porcelain, AND in one dental visit! 

For more information on CERAC, Click Here: