Ceramic restorations in just one appointment
As an alternative to the classic method of a dental technician fabricating ceramic restorations - necessitating several appointments - ceramic restorations (inlays, partial crowns and crowns) can also be fabricated in just one appointment using the CAD/CAM technique.
Procedure
For this procedure, an impression of the teeth is usually not necessary, since the cavity of the prepared tooth is scanned with an intraoral camera. With the help of this so-called optical impression, the restoration is constructed on a 3D model on the computer. The restoration is then milled from a ceramic block in a milling machine. Finally, the finished restoration is tried in and bonded into the tooth.
Experience to date has shown that restorations manufactured today using the CAD/CAM technique have a comparable service life to conventionally manufactured ceramic restorations when indicated correctly. The world market leader, which also offers the longest available CAD/CAM system, is Cerec®.