Cerec: the next step in dentistry at City of London dentist
Sunday, September 5th, 2010Dental crowns and veneers play a very large part in cosmetic and restorative dentistry and have done for many years. However, one of the main drawbacks of crowns and veneers has always been the difficult and complex way in which they had to be manufactured. Once the dentist had taken the various dental moulds and x-rays, the new crowns would need to be designed and manufactured in lab. This could involve up to two weeks of lengthy enamel layering to produce a final result that would be accurate but sill susceptible to flaws.
However, with the introduction of Cerec in the last few years all of this has changed. This new technology has radically cut the amount of time it takes to manufacture new dental replacements, allowing dentists to design, manufacture and fix dental restorations in a single appointment.
How is this possible you may ask yourself? Using new technology such as digital x-rays and three-dimensional imaging, dentists can build a microscopically accurate picture of the patient’s teeth on a computer. They can then use this image to design the crown or veneer. Once this design is complete and the City of London dentist is happy with it. They can then instruct a computer to begin the manufacture process. The computer guides a mill which whittles a piece of porcelain into the desired shape.
It is possible to create a completely new dental crown in as little as six minutes per tooth. When you think about the amount of manufacturing time, patients waiting time and treatment time this is saving it really does start to feel like a dental revolution has arrived. You can learn more about Cerec at your next dental appointment by asking your dentist.

In the past dentists have had to rely on dental moulds and x-rays to build up a 3D picture of what a patients teeth look like. They would then use these images to construct dental prosthetics and artificial teeth. This was a painstaking process that often took weeks. Even the moulding and x-ray processes were lengthy and required patients to make several visits to the surgery.
The advances in dental technology that have been made in the last twenty years are astounding. Dentists’ surgeries are unrecognisable from the intimidating clinic atmospheres of the past and today more resemble health spas. Accompanying these aesthetic changes are the technological leaps, none more so than
The latest innovative addition to the world of dentistry is laser techniques or laser dentistry. This provides a highly precise and effective medium for many dental treatments and procedures. The efficacy of this application lies entirely in the dentist’s hands and his ability to direct the laser to a very specific area of focus without causing any damage to the tooth structure or surrounding tissues.