How can we help you?
At Hudzinski Dental, we appreciate your questions because we believe that the most informed patients have the best chance of maintaining a healthy, problem-free smile. Whatever is on your mind, whether it's about a procedure, finances, or any other concerns, we're always here to help.
On this page, you'll find some of the questions we hear most often. Please take a look, and if you don't see what you need here, don't hesitate to call our team at (440) 585-4200.
CEREC® Crowns and Bridges
Care for a crown or bridge like your natural teeth: brush twice daily with a soft brush, floss every day, and keep regular checkups. For bridges, use a floss threader or water flosser to clean under the false tooth. Avoid chewing ice or hard candy, and wear a night guard if you grind. Crowns and bridges typically last 10 to 15 years. Call us if one feels loose or uncomfortable.
CEREC is a chairside system that uses a digital scanner to capture a 3D image of your prepared tooth, then designs and mills a custom ceramic crown in-office using computer-aided design and an on-site milling unit - eliminating the physical impression and outside dental laboratory that traditional crowns require.
After preparing the tooth, we take a digital scan instead of a traditional impression, design the crown on-screen while you wait, and mill it from a solid ceramic block on-site - typically 15 to 20 minutes. The crown is then stained, glazed, fired, polished and permanently bonded, all in one appointment.
A filling is appropriate for smaller areas of decay where enough healthy tooth structure remains to support the tooth on its own. A crown is needed when decay or a crack is extensive enough that a filling would leave too little natural structure remaining, risking fracture under normal chewing force.
Yes. CEREC crowns are milled from the same high-strength ceramic materials used in traditional lab-fabricated crowns, and multiple long-term studies show comparable survival rates between the two. The manufacturing method differs, but the resulting material strength is equivalent.
Most cases qualify, but a few situations still benefit from a traditional lab-fabricated crown, including teeth needing very precise shade-matching for a highly visible front tooth, multiple adjacent crowns, or gum tissue needing more time to heal before an accurate scan can be taken.
CEREC crowns are most commonly milled from lithium silicate or full zirconia ceramic blocks, both offering strong fracture resistance along with a natural, tooth-like translucency, selected based on the tooth's location and the forces it will experience.