CEREC 3D: The Holy Grail of Dentists and Patients, Alike

Today, the dental patient no longer desires mercury-silver fillings. That was not the case when today's baby-boomers were younger and in an active state of dental disease. In the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, the mercury filling was the restoration of choice to repair teeth damaged by decay. There is no accurate way to estimate how many mercury fillings have been placed, but there is little doubt that millions of these old, mercury fillings are leaking, re-infecting, and breaking off large chunks of 'boomers" back teeth and they need to be replaced.

The question is: Replaced with what? Until recently, a dentist looking at a back tooth with a big old mercury filling had one choice, Grind down the tooth to a stump and fit it for a full metal and porcelain crown or cap.

That's all well and good. But the Holy Grail for dentists is to conserve healthy tooth structure, not grind it down and destroy it. The Holy Grail for most patients, of course, is fewer dental appointments.

Well, we found the Holy Grail and it is called CEREC 3D, an acronym for all cer>amic reconstruction. And, we are proud to say that Dr. Rementer is one of only a select few dentists in the United States to use the new 3D upgrade for CEREC 3D and to embrace the exciting new specialty of computerized restorative dentistry.

For the dentist, the CEREC 3D technique offers the most conservative approach to conserving healthy tooth structure. And, using all natural ceramic (no metal) with physical properties that closely match nature's enamel, CEREC 3D produces restoration that our patients say feel exactly like real teeth! Maybe that is why of the hundreds of patients with CEREC 3D restorations done by Dr. Rementer, only two (2) patients reported any postoperative sensitivity.

For patients, the CEREC 3D has another appeal-a savings of time. A traditional metal and porcelain crown takes a minimum of 2 visits of about 2-3 hours. A CEREC 3D restoration is completely done in only one appointment and usually in about an hour. In today's society, time is a critical commodity and so our patients really appreciate the savings of one or two hours. In fact, a recent survey in our office asked our patients why they chose CEREC 3D over a traditional crown restoration. The top two responses were one-appointment convenience and the elimination of metal from the mouth. The next most popular answer was not having to wear the metal temporary crown for 2-3 weeks.

Experience the benefits of CEREC crowns for yourself. Call our Durham dental office today to schedule your appointment with Dr. Rementer. We give residents of Durham, Roxboro, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and surrounding areas world-class smiles and lasting oral health.