I have had 6 crowns for 30 years I want to replace them can I be sedated

Q. I have 6 porcelain (front teeth) crowns lasted since 1978, im looking to replace them and wonder what the process involves, how they get them off for a start! can i be sedated and what will the actual treatment involve. as far as i can remember they are on gold posts.i think they look dated and would like them whiter. thank you so much for your time and look forward to your reply

 

A. The process has of having 6 front crowns made from the patients point of you has not changed to any great extent since your last set were made. Having said that the anaesthetics are better and the materials the crowns are made from are vastly superior to your existing crowns.

It is unlikely that you need sedation as local anaesthetic should make the procedure pain free. The crowns are usually easily removed by cutting a line down the middle and releasing the seal of the underlying cement.. After this the underling shapes would be adjusted where necessary and impressions taken of the new shape. Temporary crowns are placed and the final ones are ready to be fitted about 2 to 3 weeks later.

There is another way of giving you new crowns. In my practice we use the Cerec method – this involves scanning the shape of the underlying tooth with an infrared camera and designing the restorations on a computer . The crowns are then milled and glazed to give you new crowns the same day. The process is quite amazing!

Hope this puts your mind at rest.

Dr Julian Caplan – Director on the board of the BACD View My Profile Dr Caplan

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