Dental crowns look and act precisely like healthy and strong natural teeth. They protect and support damaged and weakened teeth so that you can eat, bite and chew confidently and without fear of infection. Crowns are versatile and flexible enough a solution to deal with situations as diverse as:
- Serious tooth decay that has weakened the structure of the tooth
- Cracks and chips serious enough to render the tooth vulnerable to fracture
- A tooth discolored by factors that can not be resolved by teeth whitening or bleaching
- A tooth that has received so much repetitive dental work that the remaining tooth can not hold a further necessary filling
- Teeth with enamel so worn as to deny it the protection required to stay healthy.
Versatile as they are, dental crowns have one significant disadvantage — the length of time required to prepare a crown and the number of appointments needed to complete their installation. Typically, receiving a crown would require three appointments to prepare for, craft, fit and provide a dental crown.
When you consider that those appointments to fit a crown may fall after other dental work — a root canal, for example — has been completed. It would be easy to understand why someone who had just completed and finally recovered from root canal surgery would prefer not to have to attend multiple additional appointments to be fitted with a crown to protect their tooth. For those people and anyone else who would prefer to avoid the inconvenience and expense of multiple avoidable dental appointments, though, there is good news. Your dentist in South Tampa can now provide dental crowns on the same day and while you wait.
There are no significant differences between traditional and same-day crowns except when it comes to convenience and speed. Your crowns will be prepared in your dentist’s office on the same day as your dentist measures your teeth for crowns. Your new crowns will be made in your dentist’s office while you wait (or run errands if you’d rather not wait around) and be fit onto your teeth on the very same day.
What is the process of getting same-day crowns?
Receiving same-day crowns occurs in a five-step process that relies on computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology. The precise sequence of events may vary from one person to the next, but the same five steps will be taken in each situation.
First Step: Using a wand with an integrated camera, a dentist near you will record three-dimensional images of your teeth and gums, including the tooth or teeth being fitted with the crown.
Second Step: The digital images will be sent to a computer with software capable of designing a crown to accomplish your needs and to fit over the tooth in question. Before the crown is produced, your dentist will review that proposed design and adjust it if necessary.
Third Step: CAM software will be used to guide the milling of your crown from a block of ceramic material. The CAM-guided milling machine will be located in the dentist’s office and will perform the milling while you wait or run errands.
Fourth Step: After your dental crown has been crafted by the milling machine, your dentist will summon you back to the office where your dentist will “dry fit” the crown by placing it over the tooth without any adhesive or cement. The goal of the dry fit is to confirm that the crown both fits in place and will accomplish the goal for which the crown was designed.
Fifth Step: Once the fit and effectiveness of the crown have been confirmed by your dentist (or any adjustments have been made), it will be placed permanently in place using firm finger pressure and specialized dental cement adhesives.
Does it seem to you like getting a dental crown in South Tampa may be a good option for protecting or perfecting any of your teeth? If you’re interested in dental crowns, but not interested in wasting time and money on appointments that can be avoided, ask your dentist about the availability of same-day crowns near you.