I wanted to replace my metal based crown with an all porcelain one, but my dentist said it wasn’t a good idea because the porcelain isn’t strong enough for back teeth. I decided to get a second opinion from a holistic dentist and she said it could be done. I was excited to hear that and gave the okay. She wanted to use a new technology called CEREC which would allow me to get the permanent crown at the same appointment. Again, I was excited and starting to feel really great about this holistic dentist thing. My first hint something could be off was when she bonded the crown in without trying it on first. It felt off, but she said I’d get used to it. I didn’t so I went back and told her it hurt every time I bite down and that my teeth are not meeting together. She had her assistant grind down the crown a bit. That didn’t help. I decided to get a second opinion on the crown because I am losing faith in this dentist. The second dentist looked at the crowns and said it is both too high and not wide enough for my bite. Is the problem here the fact that I went to a holistic dentist or is the CEREC technology not that great?
Kevin
Dear Kevin,
In this case, the problem is with this particular holistic dentist. Like any professional some dentists are better than others. You just happened to hit a dud. If going to a holistic dentist is important to you, don’t give up! There are many out there who do a great job with their work.
Using the CEREC machine usually results in much more accurately fitting dental crowns because they are milled by a computer. However, you may remember the old saying, “Garbage in – Garbage out”. This is still true. A computer will only be as accurate as the information they are fed. It sounds like because you’d already had a dental crown placed and your dentist couldn’t just image the tooth into the program, that she did not know how to adequately convey the right inputs.
When a crown is fitted properly, it should not be noticeable at all. I am glad you stuck to your guns and found someone who recognized the problem.
I wanted to address something your first (original) dentist said. While it is true that all-porcelain crowns are not as strong on back teeth as their metal-based counterparts, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get a metal free dental crown on a back tooth. Zirconia crowns are metal free and more than strong enough to withstand the biting forces of back teeth.
This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.