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CAD-CAM technology has changed the way that tooth restorations are made, and it has made it possible now for people to stop procrastinating about seeking out restorative services when necessary. Many people know they need tooth restoration services and have every intention of seeking out a cosmetic dentist—when they have time. Unfortunately, many people continue to procrastinate because they never seem to find the time. This is due to the perception they have (which is based on dental history) of how long it takes for restorative work to be done.
Historically, it normally took a number of dental appointments for restorations such as inlays, onlays, bridges, and crowns to be made for a patient’s. This was because dentists could not make these restorations in the dental office itself. They had to make models of teeth by taking a series of impressions, and then sending these impressions off to a lab. The lab would then make the restorations based upon these physical models. The CAD-CAM method of fabrication lets a dentist make a tooth-colored inlay, only, veneer, or crown in the dental offices in a single visit.
The CAD-CAM technique involves a number of steps that are all completed while the patient is in the office. The first of these steps is tooth preparation. As previously noted, dentists once had to rely upon manual impressions and physical models to prepare teeth for cosmetic restoration. However, with CAD-CAM a special, precision optical camera is placed in the patient’s mouth. The camera is able to record the exact dimensions of your teeth and send this information back to the CAD-CAM computer, where it is stored.
The computer then uses this data to build a virtual model of the teeth which in turn will be used as a template to create the tooth restoration. The dentist selects the appropriate material for the restoration and chooses a color that will enable the cosmetic tooth restoration to appear identical to the texture and color of your existing teeth. The material is then placed into a machine that fabricates the restoration using the information recorded by the CAD-CAM.
Once the restoration is fabricated, the dentist applies the appropriate color and bonds it to the teeth. The patient’s bite is then double checked to ensure that the natural teeth and your cosmetic teeth restorations are in alignment. Appropriate adjustments, if necessary, are then made.
However, there is an even greater benefit to applying traditional methods of taking impression with CAD-CAM technology. Making a mold of a tooth, then allowing a lab that owns a CAD-CAM system to then make tooth restorations based on the impressions taken in the dental office, has produces an even more accurate tooth replacement both in terms of shape and color. The mold actually mimics the natural teeth, and the precision optics of the CAD-CAM camera and the computer creates an even more accurate fabrication.
We find that this blend of tradition and new science benefits our patients more than rushing through the process in the office in the same day. While patients do have to return to the office after the restorations have been made in the lab, it only takes one follow up visit for more accurate, more natural looking, and better-lasting results.
Cosmetic Dentistry is a specialized field that requires extensive knowledge and experience to be done correctly. The Medical Center Dental Group in Houston, Texas brings all of that and more to the direct benefit of each and every patient we treat. Although we are located in the world famous Houston Medical Center at Scurlock Towers, we routinely see dental patients who travel from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Beaumont and Midland Texas to see Dr Dale Brant, Dr. Charles Campbell or Dr. Elizabeth O’Sullivan-Winslow for their cosmetic denistry services.
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