Theriot Family Dental

CEREC Crowns on Front Teeth

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I was in an accident that led to me losing my two front teeth. I wanted to replace them as quickly as possible. My dentist does CEREC crowns, but when I told him I wanted to replace my teeth with CEREC crowns, he said that he doesn’t do CEREC crowns on front teeth. Is there a reason for this? It seems like it would be just as easy and convenient as it would on any other tooth.

Michael

Dear Michael,

CEREC Crown block

 

While it is true that CEREC crowns are very convenient, they aren’t really meant for front teeth. CEREC crowns are milled out of a single block of porcelain. That means the color will be one level of opacity. While this is fine for every other tooth, our front teeth have the most exposure to light. If you look at a natural tooth you will see there are different levels of translucency throughout the surface of your tooth. Without that, your smile may look okay, but there will always be something a little “off” about it.

Our smiles are one of the first things people notice about us. You want to make the best impression possible. My suggestion is that you have a porcelain crown made the traditional way for your front teeth. That way the ceramist can layer different values of porcelain to give the same variation you would get with a natural tooth. Your smile will look much nicer with that extra appointment. It is totally up to you, of course. Your dentist is just trying to give you the best result he can. I am certain you could find a dentist willing to do it. Just make sure you will not mind the results.

I am going to suggest one more thing. The color your dental crown is made, whether it is traditional or CEREC will be permanent. If you are content with the color of your teeth, then you have nothing to worry about. If, however, you’d rather them be whiter you will want to do any teeth whitening before you finalize your dental crown. That way it can be made the permanent color and not have to be replaced later to match.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.