Modesto CA Dentist Practice Uses CEREC for Better Aesthetics, Convenience

Jan. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- MODESTO, CALIFORNIA -- A growing number of dentists throughout the country offer an aesthetic, natural-looking option for patients in need of a crown, and they can provide this service in-house during a single office visit.

Dr. Jim Woodbury is one dentist who offers CEREC restorations at his Modesto, CA dentist practice. CEREC allows for CERamic REConstruction. It’s a digital CAD/CAM restorative system that enables Woodbury to fabricate custom, all-ceramic crowns and other restorations in his office.

“We are incredibly pleased with the quality restorations we can create with CEREC,” Woodbury says. “Combine that high quality with the convenience of getting a restoration completed in a single office visit, and we have an ideal treatment option for patients.”
 
To truly appreciate the benefits of CEREC, it is worth discussing the traditional method of getting a porcelain crown, says the Modesto dentist. Conventional crowns are completed in two appointments. During the first appointment, the tooth is prepared for the crown by reducing it in size, an impression is taken of the tooth, and then the patient is fitted for a temporary crown.

At that point, the dentist sends the impression to a dental laboratory where the permanent crown is fabricated. This process takes about two weeks to complete.

A second appointment is made for the temporary crown to be removed and the patient is fitted for the permanent replacement.

Out with the Old, In with the New
CEREC changes this process, Woodbury says. First of all, the process is cleaner because he uses a camera to collect digital information about the tooth to be crowned rather than using messy impression materials.

He takes an upper and lower digital impression and bite registration via a 3-D image of the patient’s tooth. The equipment used to perform this task is called the “Acquisition Center powered by Bluecam.” Optics in the light capture the topography of the prepared tooth or teeth and enable Woodbury to build back what is missing, he says.

Bluecam provides LED technology that produces highly detailed, precise digital impressions, according to the CEREC website.

Patients do not have to wear a temporary crown while their permanent replacement is made, because Woodbury fabricates the replacement in-house during the same office visit.

Another key difference between CEREC crowns and traditional restorations is that the CEREC crown is bonded into place instead of cemented. When a dentist cements a crown, the micro-gap between the inside surface of the crown and the outside surface of the tooth is filled.

“Bonding is actually more like recreating your own enamel,” says Woodbury, who has nine years of experience using CEREC in his office. “It’s so much stronger and physically more dimensionally stable than what we’ve used for the last 100-plus years in dentistry.”

CEREC crowns are an ideal option for patients with metal allergies, because they are made entirely of ceramic. They also appear to be as strong as the traditional crowns made of porcelain fused to metal.

“These current restorations don’t seem to chip, fracture or break,” he says. “They are a really good and stable end-product, and they look, feel and function much like your own natural tooth.”

There is a noticeable difference between a CEREC restoration and porcelain-metal restoration, Woodbury says. Light doesn’t react the same way with porcelain-metal crowns as it does to a natural tooth, but it reacts quite similarly to CEREC crowns.

“Overall, patients who opt for CEREC crowns are very pleased with the end result,” he says.

Learn More
For more information about CEREC crowns, Dr. Woodbury’s Modesto, CA dentistry practice, or to schedule an appointment, please call (209) 521-8105 or visit Dr. Woodbury’s website: www.jimwoodburydds.com.

About Dr. Jim Woodbury
Dr. Woodbury has provided dental care to residents of Modesto, California and the surrounding areas for more than 30 years. He earned his doctorate from Northwestern University and stays up-to-date on the latest advancements in the dentistry field by maintaining active membership in numerous prestigious professional organizations such as the American Dental Society, the California Dental Society, the Stanislaus Dental Society, and the INPUT Study Club.

© 2012 Prodentite and Dr. Jim Woodbury. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Prodentite is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this article is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.

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Dr. Woodbury has provided dental care to residents of Modesto, California and the surrounding areas for more than 30 years. He earned his doctorate from Northwestern University and stays up-to-date on the latest advancements in the dentistry field by maintaining active membership in numerous prestigious professional organizations such as the American Dental Society, the California Dental Society, the Stanislaus Dental Society, and the INPUT Study Club.