A Crown in a Day? I used to dream of being a princess, but this is a whole different story! High-tech has definitely come to my dental office. How can this all be done in a day? Read, and be amazed!
Question: Have you had a crown on a tooth?
"Old Way" - Have the dental work for the crown done by your dentist or a specialist, and a temporary crown was glued in to protect the tooth until a permanent crown was made. The impressions, measurements, etc., were "sent off" to a lab to have the new permanent crown made. This usually took about 2 weeks or longer. Finally, it was another dental appointment to get the temporary crown removed and the permanent crown cemented into place. Two major dental appointments on separate days - rather inconvenient, but necessary.
"New Way" - Morning appointment for impressions, etc., and afternoon appointment for the permanent crown! Wow!
My dentist, Dr. Todd Babineaux, has been trained to make a Crown in a Day! With his high-tech equipment, he can make this happen!
Here's my crown story!
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| My tooth with the old crown, right after anesthesia |
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| Old crown removed and cleaned up |
Now, it's time for the impressions! (Yuk; gag!) Really, it wasn't that bad!
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| Impression taken, as well as a bite registration |
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| Dr. Todd's E4D crown scanner/computer |
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| The model he derived from the impression |
The model is then scanned with the laser scanner.
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| E4D Laser Scanner |
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| Computer generated image, generated from the scans |
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| The software is used to formulate a crown image. |
The image is then cross-sectioned to insure adequate porcelain thickness.
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| Cross-section of image |
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| The image is sent via Bluetooth to the E4D porcelain mill to fabricate the crown. |
A porcelain block of the appropriate color to match my other teeth is then inserted into the mill. Okay, you are probable thinking, are her teeth purple? Read on!
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| Porcelain block that will be inserted into the mill |
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| My case showing on the mill |
The porcelain block is milled until complete. Here's the block with the crown attached. Note that it's still purple, the color of "unfired" porcelain. Now this is sounding more like an art project!
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| The block with the crown attached |
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| The crown on the model, before firing |
(Drum Roll) And now,
Let the firing begin!
My crown will now be fired in an oven up to 2,200 degrees! That's hot!!
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| Crown - before firing |
Firing is complete!
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| My fired crown, cooling |
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| New crown in place - ready to cement! |
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| Thanks, Dr. Todd Babineaux! |
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That's very interesting, Nancy. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Germaine!
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