CEREC

CEREC is one of the most advanced products in world dentistry and has completely transformed certain types of treatment, making it better, quicker and healthier than traditional methods.

This system can, remarkably, simultaneously design and mill, enabling the dentist to prepare perfectly fitted ceramic restorations in one patient visit, which, of course, means massive savings in time for both patient and dentist – and also in laboratory costs.

What happens is that single or multicoloured blocks of ceramic material are converted into fitting inlays, onlays, partial crowns, full anterior and posterior crowns bridges or veneers.

The result is a tooth indistinguishable from a healthy, natural one, and crowning is often unnecessary, because healthy tooth material can be saved due to smaller adhesive gaps.
The CEREC method was developed by Prof. W. Mörmann and Dr. M. Brandestini in 1980 at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and the first patients were treated with CEREC inlays five years later.

Since then CEREC has undergone continuous technical and clinical developments and today it is used worldwide by a growing number of dentists. It is still the only method that offers single-visit chair side restoration in which all-ceramic crowns are fabricated and placed in one appointment!

What is the procedure?

First of all your dentist will undergo a very careful and detailed examination of your teeth to determine what type of restoration is best for you.

There will then be some preparatory cleaning work, after which an optical impression of your teeth will be taken using a special 3D camera. The image is then transferred to the computer, where your restoration is fashioned using computer aided design (CAD).

Within a matter of minutes a state-of-the-art device called a milling machine comes up with a custom-made colour-matched restoration.

Finally, your restoration is fitted, polished, and bonded in place. The entire process takes between one and two hours, depending on the extent of your dental work. And that’s it. No more follow-up visits. Job done.

What are the benefits of CEREC?

There are a number of benefits of using the CEREC method, not the least of which is the fact that it is healthier than any of the other options using gold, amalgam or other metals.

CEREC uses all-ceramic material that is durable and biocompatible with your teeth., which means that it is safer and more resistant to any kind of decay.

Another advantage is that it gives your dentist the opportunity to save more of the healthy tooth structure. Teeth that would have previously been lost can now be restored with CEREC inlays and onlays, because CEREC’s state-of -the-art bonding requires only a small amount of tooth structure to restore the tooth to it’s full function.

And, of course, there is the time factor. With CEREC the entire procedure is done in one visit. If you have a busy life-style then this is excellent news. With the old system getting a crown meant at least two visits to the dentist, possibly at inconvenient times.

If you do decide to have CEREC treatment, however, you should be aware that not all dentists use CEREC technology.

How much does a CEREC crown cost?

With such advanced technology one might expect to have to pay a lot more than for treatment provided by the more traditional methods, but in fact there is very little difference.

One of the reasons for this is that you have to make only one visit to the dentist instead of two or more, and, in addition, there are no laboratory costs.

So what would you have to pay? Well, it can vary depending on the quality of the CEREC crowns and the amount of preparatory treatment required. You can pay as little as £380 or more than £700 per tooth.

If you find difficulty in paying the full amount immediately you will find that many dentists offer interest-free finance plans to help spread the costs of your treatment.