I had a dental crown made by a computer in 2017. I think my dentist said it was a CEREC something or other. It had always bothered me. This year I went to a different dentist and they said that the crown wasn’t fit properly and would need to be redone. This dentist also wants to use the computer crowns. She also said that my old dentist removed the post by drilling and she should have vibrated it out with sonics. Here are my questions:
- Are the computer crowns as good as the old fashioned ones?
- Did my old dentist damage the bone by drilling out the post?
Aimee
Dear Aimee,
I’m going to start with your second question. It is always nice when you can get a post out by vibration, but that is not always possible. Drilling them out is also common and will not damage the bone. If you think about it, dentists are drilling on teeth all the time and they do no damage to the bone.
I am a bit curious about your dentist saying that the crown “wasn’t fit properly.” Did she give you any other specifics? Were their open margins?
Some dentists will accuse the previous dentist of doing shoddy work in order to get the patient to re-do the work and give them some business. I am not saying that your dentist did that, but I would recommend getting a second opinion before re-doing your crown.
As for CEREC crowns, they were developed several decades ago. In the early days after their development there were some issues of problems with the fit. However, those bugs have been worked out of the software and, if the dentist knows how to use the software, you will get a more accurate fit than you would with a traditional porcelain crown.
Start by getting that second opinion.
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.