Same Day Crowns on Front Teeth

Posted by writeradmin

I broke a front tooth and was hoping to get one of those same day CEREC crowns. My dentist said that it is a bad idea and wants me to do a traditional crown. Should I get a referral to a dentist who would do the CEREC crown for me or stick with the traditional?

Emily

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Dear Emily,

CEREC crowns are wonderful ways to get a dental crown in just one appointment. However, I would not recommend them for a front tooth. Teeth have a variety of opacities throughout their structure. Parts of them will be more translucent. Same day crowns are milled from a single block of porcelain, which means the crown will be uniform throughout. When dealing with a tooth that is not on a front tooth, it will look fine. However, front teeth are a different story. They are exposed directly to the light, which means it will be obvious you have a single block of porcelain.

If you instead had it done with a traditional porcelain crown, the ceramist could use a variety of porcelains which would mimic the variety of the tooth structure. Even then, your dentist will likely have to do several try ins before he gets it to match the adjacent teeth. This would be a normal procedure for front teeth. Make sure your dentist uses a temporary try-in paste and will redo the porcelain crown until it matches perfectly.

It sounds to me that your dentist is trying to protect you from a disappointing result. I’d go with his recommendation.

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