One of the secrets to a winning smile is patience, as the typical process for making dental veneers can take a few appointments from initial consultation to the final, Hollywood-inspired look.
However, a process known as Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramic (CEREC) could reduce the time it takes to get a winning smile from weeks to just a few hours, with some people being able to walk out with crowns and veneers the very same day.
To understand why this is and just how much of a game-changer CEREC can be, it is important to contrast it with the typical, commonly used method of creating dental restorations.
If someone has a cavity or simply wants to fix an imperfection in their teeth, the process is a consultation and examination of the teeth, followed by preparing the teeth, taking a dental mould to send off to a restoration lab and finally fitting a temporary crown whilst the final result is being made.
It is a consistent, well-established process, but also one that can take several weeks in total, depending on how long the laboratory needs to receive the impressions, X-rays and CT scans, create the restorations and send them back to the practice to be bonded into place.
By contrast, CEREC uses a computer-aided design and computer-aided machining (CAD/CAM) system to create a three-dimensional model that is then used to create dental restorations on demand using a CNC milling machine or 3D printer depending on the system and materials.
These are then prepared, glazed, adjusted in the mouth of the patient and bonded into place.
A very efficient system can create a dental inlay in just an hour, although veneers and crowns will typically take longer even if the vast majority of treatments will be completed on the same day.
The dentist has full control over the process, which reduces the need for multiple visits and removes the need for temporary veneers entirely.