CAD/CAM Technology: How It Works & Its Benefits

If you’ve ever received a dental crown using the traditional method, you probably remember multiple appointments with uncomfortable, gooey impressions, and a couple of weeks of wearing a temporary crown. Fortunately, modern techniques and technology have brought about alternative methods. CEREC® dental crowns use computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) for the final result. Continue reading to learn more about this process and its benefits.

How Does CAD/CAM Dentistry Work?

If you’ve gotten a dental crown in the past, this likely involved your dentist making molds of your teeth and then sending them off to a dental lab for the lab technicians to complete the creation process. With CAD/CAM technology, the process looks quite a bit different. Here’s what one can generally expect:

1. Preparation: During your appointment, your dentist will need to remove any decay and make sure your tooth is perfectly clean.
2. Scanning: Your dentist will use an intra-oral scanner to create 3D images of your mouth.
3. Design: The 3D images and CAD software are used to digitally plan, draw, and design your restoration.
4. Milling: Your restoration is milled from a block of ceramic.
5. Sintering/Polishing: Your restoration is stained or glazed for a more natural appearance.
6. Placement: The restoration is permanently placed in your mouth using dental cement.

What Are the Benefits of CAD/CAM Technology in Dentistry?

This advanced technology provides benefits for dental professionals and patients alike! Here are some of the most prominent advantages:

• Quick: When using traditional laboratory methods, the process can take several weeks to complete, and the patient needs to travel to the dental office multiple times. By using CAD/CAM technology, the restoration can be designed, crafted, and placed in a single appointment. The design and creation of the crown can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, and altogether the process can typically be finished within two hours.
• Digital Impressions: Nobody enjoys the conventional impression method. The process requires the patient to place a tray with thick, gooey material in their mouth to hold for several minutes. With digital impressions, a scanner is simply placed in the patient’s mouth with digital impressions and moved around the area.
• Cost-Effective: CAD/CAM technology eliminates many outsourcing costs for the dentist, and these savings are often passed onto the patient.

Dentistry has come a long way through the years. By using computer-aided technology, dentists are able to provide patients with higher-quality results in a fraction of the time!

About the Practice

At Vollo Dental Group, skilled husband-and-wife dentists, Dr. Joseph Vollo and Dr. Katherine Vollo utilize revolutionary CEREC® technology to provide their patients with more efficient, accurate results! If you are interested in CEREC® dental crowns, they would be happy to help. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit their website or call (585) 225-9114.