Posted by writeradmin
I needed a dental crown and my dentist went on and on about the benefits of having a CEREC crown. I’ll be honest that the idea of getting a dental crown in just one appointment was quite appealing. It turned out to be quite a disaster. Even after being in the chair for three hours, it did not fit right.
She said the problem was my tooth was in too much of a mess to get a good read on it so she had to take a model from the database. When she put it in, nothing fit right. She started grinding things down on the front and sides. The top of the tooth is now smooth instead of having bumps on it like most back teeth. It’s now smaller than all my other teeth and still sensitive, even though it is a week later.
This can’t be normal, can it?
Scott
Dear Scott,
You are correct, this is not normal and your dentist should make it right. When a CEREC crown is done properly, it will be a perfect fit. The problem is not the machine but the person who was running it.
I’m completely flummoxed by her comment that she had to take a model from the database because your tooth was in such bad shape. Of course your tooth was in bad shape! Healthy teeth do not need a dental crown. Restoring these teeth is exactly what a CEREC machine was designed to do!
It is the dentist’s responsibility to input which tooth is being crowned. Once that is done, CEREC recognizes how that tooth is supposed to look, which gives the dentist a starting point for designing the crown. The remainder of the information comes from the images of the surrounding and opposing teeth that should give her the information to input into the machine in order to fit the crown perfectly onto your tooth and into your bite. If that did not happen, it is because she did not place the correct inputs.
You also mentioned sensitivity but did not tell me what type or if it is decreasing or not. The pain can be from an open margin, or it being seated too high, or even a lingering infection. Given how poorly this dentist handled this crown, I suggest that you see another dentist in order to get a second opinion. Tell him or her your symptoms and allow them to examine your crown. They can tell you what is causing the pain.
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