So, you need a crown. Maybe you have a cracked tooth. Maybe a large filling has seen better days. Or maybe you’ve just had a root canal and need to protect what’s left. Your first thought might be about the process itself. How long is this going to take? Am I going to walk around with a temporary tooth? And what’s the actual difference between a CEREC crown made in a dental office versus one made in a lab somewhere else?
We hear these questions all the time. Both approaches are designed to save and protect your tooth. Both use strong, natural-looking materials. But the journey to getting them is completely different.
The Traditional Crown: A Two-Visit Process
For decades, this was the only option. It’s still a good option. But it requires patience. Visit one is the preparation appointment. We numb you up, shape the tooth to make room for the crown, and take physical impressions. Those goopy trays you bite down on? That’s part of this process. Those impressions get sent to a dental lab, along with notes about the color and shape we need.
Then we fit you with a temporary crown. It’s usually made of acrylic and cemented on with a soft cement so it comes off easily later. You wear that temporary for about two to three weeks while the lab fabricates your permanent crown. During those weeks, you have to be careful. Avoid sticky foods. Floss gently. And try not to bite down too hard on that side.
Visit two is the delivery appointment. The temporary comes off. We check the fit, shade, and bite of your new crown. If everything looks right, we bond it in place permanently.
The result is often a beautiful, custom-made crown that can last for many years. But it means two visits, two numbing shots, and waiting weeks for the final result.
The CEREC Crown: One Visit, Done
CEREC stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics. That’s a mouthful. What it really means is same-day crowns. Instead of goopy impressions, we use a handheld digital scanner. It takes hundreds of images of your tooth and the surrounding teeth in just a few minutes. No gagging. No waiting for material to set.
Those images create a highly detailed 3D model on a computer screen. We design your crown right there, customizing the shape to match your bite and the teeth around it. The design gets sent to an in-office milling machine. While you relax, that machine carves your crown out of a single block of ceramic.
About an hour later, your crown is ready. No temporary. No second appointment. No waiting weeks. You could walk in with a damaged tooth and walk out with a permanent restoration.
Which One Is Better?
We get this question all the time, and the honest answer is: both have their place.
Traditional crowns have decades of proven success. The lab technicians who make them are highly skilled artisans. For certain cases, especially if multiple teeth need crowns or if the shade matching is particularly tricky, a lab-made crown might be the best choice.
CEREC crowns offer convenience and precision. The ceramic material is incredibly strong and matches natural teeth beautifully. The digital scan is more accurate than impressions, which means a better fit. And of course, one visit is hard to beat.
What Matters Most
Honestly, the best crown is the one that fits well, looks natural, and protects your tooth for the long haul. At Perfect Smiles, we’ve been restoring smiles in Bensalem since 1990. We offer both options because different patients have different needs.
Some people have busy schedules and can’t take time off for two appointments. Others have a strong gag reflex and dread impressions. Some just like the idea of walking out with their final restoration the same day.
And that’s fine. We’ll walk you through the pros and cons based on your specific tooth and your specific life.
What You Should Do
If you have a damaged or weakened tooth, come see us. We’ll show you the digital scan, explain the materials, and help you decide what makes sense for you.
Whether it’s a traditional crown or a same-day CEREC crown, we’re here to make the process as comfortable and straightforward as possible.