CEREC offered right here in Las Vegas by

Dr. Greg Heideman and Dr. Spencer Luth

Traditionally dentists have done one of two things to repair defects in your teeth.  They either did a filling or a crown. This inherantly creates a problem for you as the patient.  Here is the dilema.  Fillings are great because they are conservative. However, fillings are not strong when a large amount of tooth is defective and the filling is expected to now support the load of all that missing tooth.  Well the crown option is good because crowns are very strong, however they require a very agressive prepartion - removing alot of "good" tooth structure. 

So simply put many times your dentist has to either "push the envelope" and place a huge filling which may not last very long... or they have to be overly agressive and place a crown.

Though many dentist's are still practicing this way today here at the Luth and Heideman we offer an alternative called Cerec.  

In simplest terms Cerec allows us to get the benefits of both fillings and crowns.  Cerec allows us to only remove the part of the tooth that is defective (Big or small) and then use porcelain to fill that defect getting the strength that a crown would have offered without "shaving down" your entire tooth.  The Term for this procedue is an inlay, onlay, or 3/4 crown. 

Cerec is CAD/CAM technology that allows all of this to be done in one visit.

Every day, more and more patients are choosing CEREC as their preferred dental restoration technique. According to the Sirona (The manufacturere of Cerec), the CEREC technique has been the preferred CAD/CAM technology of dentists since 1985, allowing doctors to perform all ceramic dental restorations in a single visit. Yes you Read that correctly - A SINGLE VISIT!!!

For patients, the biggest advantage is the time savings. Only one appointment is required, resulting in much preferred single appointment dental care. As dentists and patients know, most restorative procedures require more than one visit to the dentist. Typically, this requires an initial visit including anesthesia, tooth preparation and an impression as well as a temporary restoration. A follow up visit is required a few weeks later, with another shot of anesthesia, the temporary restoration pulled off, and the new permanent restoration put in place.

What’s the difference between Cerec and older methods of repairing damaged or decayed teeth? This is a great question, and is one we love to answer. A CEREC tooth restoration isn’t just convenient, it is also healthy. Your CEREC restoration only requires one visit to our office and utilizes state of the art technology to assist us in repairing your smile. Until recently, dentists had few options when it came to repairing damaged teeth, and most involved gold, amalgam, or other metals which don’t respond to temerature changes well. With CEREC, we can use strong, tooth colored ceramic materials that restore your teeth to their natural strength, beauty, and function.

These ceramic materials closely match the make-up of your tooth’s natural structure. This means when you eat hot food and then drink something cold, the restoration and tooth expand and contract at almost equal rates (unlike metal which can expand and contract disproportonate to to the tooth causing damage and wear). With a CEREC restoration, your tooth does not crack, and you can go on enjoying your favorite cold and hot food and drinks without a second thought.

In a CEREC restoration, the materials are chemically bonded to your tooth, so we can save as much healthy tooth tissue as possible while providing you with a dental restoration that strengthens your tooth.

The reason we like CEREC, and the reason our patients are choosing this method too, is the procedure is done in a single appointment - from start to finish! Contact us today to learn more about our CEREC options available here in Las Vegas.