One Day Crowns

Convenience and Advanced Technology

It used to be that you would have to wait weeks before your dental restorations were complete. While they were prepared in a lab, you wore the temporary restoration your dentist put on your teeth. However, at Modern Dentistry Associates in St. Joseph, Michigan, cosmetic and general dentist Dr. Erickson uses the latest version of CEREC technology – the CEREC Primescan.

CEREC, or Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, allows Dr. Erickson to create your restoration in a single office visit.

CEREC has three parts to it that help in the creation of high-quality restorations:

• Computer aided design (CAD) terminal that calculates the data used in the design of your restoration
• 3-D camera imaging used to take digital impressions of your teeth
• Computer aided manufacturing (CAM) mill that sculpts the ceramic block into the shape your restoration will be using a diamond bit

CEREC’s parts work together to ensure your restoration functions and feel like your natural tooth, even on a microscopic level.

How CEREC Works

Rather than using putty or plaster to make an impression of your tooth, Dr. Erickson will take a digital picture using our CEREC camera. Using the CAD/CAM technology of CEREC, the picture is converted into a 3-D virtual model of the tooth that is to be prepared. When the exact shape and size of your restoration has been decided on, CEREC’s milling unit begins fabricating the tooth. The color and shade of the restoration will be matched to your other teeth so that no one will be able to tell that you have undergone a cosmetic dental procedure. Once the milling process is completed, the restoration is polished and the restoration will be bonded by Dr. Erickson. It’s fast and efficient.