> What do you know about and what are your opinions about CEREC 3D
> CAD/CAM ceramic restorations?
>
> I have heard that it is a one visit process, it is pretty durable and
> that there is no impression needed.
> thanks in advance
As I answered in your other post, they seem quite good. There is a
learning curve to the procedure--I'd be sure you go to someone who has
been doing it a while.
The machine is quite expensive (on the order of $100K), but a dentist
who has been attempting to convince me to jump on the bandwagon for
years says, it will save more per month on lab bills than you will pay
on your loan. I don't know how that translates into an appropriate fee
for a patient; I assume the fee would be similar to that for a
laboratory-fabricated ceramic inlay/onlay.
Steve
Alexander Vasserman DDS - 01 Apr 2006 08:09 GMT
It requires adding stains to the porcelain to match the adjacent teeth
since the restoration is milled from a solid block of glass with very
standard basic shades.
I am not conviced that this type of restoration will work for every
tooth in the mouth. For a busy practice and for patients who aren't
picky about how the restoration matches everything else or for
restorations that are in the back out of view but not too far back
where there is risk of fracture this will work.
The software and hardware keeps getting better and doctors need to
constantly upgrade for yet another $100K. I am not sure of the cost
effectiveness because dentists that use this system forget to add the
cost of their time to work the cerec 3d. Certainly by having the doctor
own the machine he/she can by pass the lab sales tax on the cost of the
labour plus materials, in otherwords the tax would only involve the
ceramic ingot vs a dental lab where the tax involves the materials and
labour to fabricate the restoration. At least this is true in
California and I am always for no tax on dental prosthetics because
this is unethical and unfair to the general public who absorb this cost
indirectly and for that reason maybe one day I'll own such a machine.