CEREC

Technology on Your Side

Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, or CEramic REConstruction (CEREC) is designed to create custom restorations in as little as one visit, potentially eliminating the need to wear a temporary restoration for a few weeks. With CEREC, the entire restoration process takes a little as one dental visit to complete. Your tooth is scanned by a computer, the restoration is designed, and then milled to completion, potentially even before the anesthesia even wears off. With CEREC there's no need for us to make an impression and send it to a lab.

The restoration is often natural looking, because it is made of tooth-colored ceramic material. It's metal-free with no silver fillings that may discolor your smile! The ceramic material is compatible with tissue in your mouth and is high-grade, anti-abrasive, and plaque-resistant. It allows us to save as much of the healthy part of your tooth as we can.

The Science & Process of CEREC

CEREC 3D (CEramic REConstruction 3D) uses CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) technology, incorporating all together: a camera, a computer, and a milling machine.

First, your damaged tooth is prepared with a thin layer of reflective powder applied directly to the tooth’s surface area to be repaired. With a special camera, the dentist takes an optical impression of the damaged tooth, which is transferred to the computer and displayed on a colour screen. Your doctor will then use the CAD technology to design the restoration of your tooth. The CAM takes over the process and automatically creates the restoration. Using a diamond bur and a disk, the CAM mills the restoration out of a solid block of ceramic material into the desired shape. Once completed, the dentist will bond the new restoration to the surface of the old damaged tooth. The whole process generally will take approximately one hour to complete.