CEREC

Philadelphia, Main Line, and Ardmore, Pennsylvania Cosmetic Dentistry

How Porcelain Crowns are Made

Are you wondering if your tooth might need a dental crown rather than just a filling? Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist, Dr. Marshall offers all-porcelain crowns, made of dental porcelain with no metal lining. Since we have CEREC technology, we can make your tooth crown here in our office.

CEREC is one of the most advanced and recent developments in dental technology. Most dental offices use a dental laboratory to make crowns. That means you must come for two visits: one to prepare the tooth and assemble the data for the lab; and a second one to attach the crown. There is a waiting period of several weeks in between visits, during which you must wear a temporary crown and take care that it does not come off.

• Because we have a CEREC system, you can have your crown made and placed in just one visit.

CEREC is a porcelain milling system with an advanced computer system, CAD-CAM software, and a milling unit. After Dr. Marshall has all the data for making your crown and has entered it into the CEREC system, we will mill the crown here while you wait for a few minutes.

What is Dental Porcelain?

It is a glass-like ceramic not unlike the delicate china we call porcelain. By itself it is brittle, but once bonded to your tooth, it is hard, durable, and visually pleasing. It contains no metal. Whatever a crown is made of must be hard enough to withstand chewing forces for years, yet not so hard that it will wear down the opposing tooth. Gold alloy fulfills those requirements, but looks unattractive. Dental porcelain also fulfills them and has the added benefit of looking like tooth enamel.

Tooth enamel and porcelain are not transparent, but they are semi-translucent. Some light penetrates them and some bounces off. The light that penetrates reflects off the layer beneath the surface. In the case of enamel, that is the dentin layer. In the case of porcelain, it is the dental cement attaching the porcelain restoration. By absorbing some light and reflecting some, enamel and porcelain achieve a similar pearly sheen.

Porcelain is also stain-resistant so that your dental crowns, or other porcelain restorations such as porcelain veneers or porcelain fillings, will remain a clean white color for their lifetime.

The Color of Your Crown

Porcelain comes in different shades and Dr. Marshall will choose one to match your tooth enamel. Since some light passes through porcelain, the shade of dental cement used to attach your crown will also affect your crown’s precise color. Therefore, when she attaches it, Dr. Marshall can tweak its color by her choice of cement.

If you intend to have a teeth whitening treatment, you should do this prior to having your crown made so Dr. Marshall can match your crown to your new tooth color.

To use CEREC technology well requires dedication and time. Dr. Marshall does not use it for dental bridges or porcelain veneers, as she feels her dental lab technician can do an even better job for those restorations. But for tooth crowns and porcelain fillings, CEREC does a top-level job and saves you time in the dental chair.

If you would like to schedule a personal porcelain crowns consultation with Dr. Marshall for more information on Cerec, please contact our cosmetic dentistry office today. We serve Philadelphia, Main Line, and Ardmore, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas.

602 The Times Building
Suburban Square
Ardmore, PA 19003
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