What a Dentist Looks at During a CEREC Crown Exam

A CEREC® dental crown exam is vital for your treatment. Your dentist still needs to check the important things about your case, even if the procedure itself is short. A thorough exam will give your dentist all the information for the procedure. Here are the details about the things a dentist looks at during a CEREC crown exam.

Health history

Checking the patient’s health history is a vital part of a CEREC crown exam. This allows the dentist to know if the patient has underlying conditions and current medications. The dentist must be aware of these things so that the patient does not receive anything that might trigger a condition. There might be occasions when the dentist might coordinate with the patient’s attending physician. The CEREC crown procedure will start once the patient’s health is clear.

Tooth damage

Checking the patient’s dentition will follow. The dentist will check the condition of the patient’s teeth. Tooth decay can manifest in cavities or small holes. The dentist must remove the decayed tooth structures.

Seeing if the decay has reached the pulp is important. An infected pulp will need an emergency root canal treatment. A CEREC crown will follow after the procedure. The ceramic crown will keep the tooth stable. It will also protect the tooth from further infection.

The dentist must also check for fractures. Any fracture that reaches the pulp will cause tremendous pain. A crown fracture is another matter. The dentist can detect this through the separation of a tooth wall or cusp. There is also the crazing of the patient’s enamel or a complete fracture. A fracture is a pathway for bacterial infection.

The dentist must close up the fracture. Failure to do so will result in endodontic, prosthodontic, and periodontal failure. For deep fractures, the dentist needs to remove the pulp and perform an emergency root canal. Then, a CEREC crown procedure will follow.

Presence of healthy tooth structure

The dentist must also check the remaining healthy tooth structure. What remains will provide resistance and retention. It also gives the CEREC crown a stable substrate for attachment between the crown and the natural tooth. The dentist must remove all decayed or damaged tooth structures first. This will help determine the amount of healthy tooth structure left.

Marginal staining and defects

Removal of any plaque, tartar, and staining should also happen first. The dentist must also check for stubborn food particles. The neighboring teeth should go through deep cleaning and teeth whitening first before the CEREC crown procedure. This will help the patient achieve a more natural result from the CEREC dental crown.