Thursday, January 15, 2015

ALL PORCELAIN CROWNS – THE CAD/CAM WAY



When some of my dentists colleagues learn that I use the Cerec system  to create all-porcelain crowns for my patients, one of the first questions I get is if they are good looking enough to be used in front teeth.  I tell them that after placing a great number of these crowns, I would not want to go back to placing a conventional porcelain fused to metal crown. 
Porcelain fused to metal crowns have served our patients well over many decades, just like silver amalgam fillings, but just like silver fillings, I don’t use them anymore.  The all porcelain crowns that I fabricate using the CAD/CAM system are translucent and let the light through just like the natural teeth.  They don’t  darken the tooth and look opaque like  porcelain fused to metal crowns.  Let me show  you how I used Cad/Cam crowns in a case involving some poorly designed crowns to completely change the smile of a patient.
This is the way the patient came to our office.  The two central incisors had crowns that were mismatched in shape and size and canted.  The ill-fitting margins had caused a chronic gingivitis.



The case required a small amount of osseous crown lengthening for the right central incisor and a diagnostic wax-up to place temporaries that were correctly designed and fine-tune their anatomy and occlusion.  The post-op picture is shown below, and the patient was very happy with the results.





These results are not extraordinary, but they are very typical of the quality of the restorations  that are routinely done with present Cad/Cam systems.
For any questions or to schedule an appointment please call our office at (561) 968 6022.

Carlos Boudet, DDS
Dentist in West Palm Beach Florida

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