Same-day Cerec® Ceramic Restorations
Restore What’s Damaged. Preserve What’s Healthy. Same-day ceramic crowns, inlays, and onlays designed with a conservative approach to preserving natural tooth structure.
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When a tooth is damaged, our first question is not automatically, “Does this tooth need a crown?”
We also ask, “How much healthy tooth structure can we preserve?”
CEREC® digital dentistry allows us to design and create ceramic inlays, onlays, and crowns right in our office, often in a single visit. This gives us more flexibility to choose the restoration that fits the tooth rather than automatically covering more tooth structure than necessary.
Filling, Inlay, Onlay or Crown?
Restorative treatment exists on a spectrum—the right choice depends on how much healthy tooth structure remains.
- Filling For smaller areas of damaged tooth structure.
- Inlay A custom ceramic restoration that fits within the chewing surface of the tooth without covering the cusps.
- Onlay A custom ceramic restoration that strengthens a larger portion of the tooth while preserving healthy areas that may not need full coverage.
- Crown When a tooth has lost more structure or requires greater protection, a crown covers and supports the remaining tooth.
WHY WE LOVE INLAYS & ONLAYS
Sometimes a filling is not strong enough—but a full crown may remove more healthy tooth structure than necessary.
In those situations, a ceramic inlay or onlay can provide additional strength while preserving more of the natural tooth.
Restore what is damaged. Preserve what is healthy.
That philosophy is one of the reasons CEREC® fits so naturally into the way we practice restorative dentistry.
How CEREC® Works
1. Digital Scan
We capture a detailed digital scan of your tooth—no traditional impression material is needed for many cases.
2. Custom Design
Your restoration is digitally designed to fit your tooth, bite, and surrounding anatomy.
3. In-Office Milling
The restoration is created from a high-quality ceramic block right in our office.
4. Final Placement
After checking the fit, bite, and appearance, the restoration is bonded into place.
For many appropriate cases, the entire process can be completed in one appointment.
Why Ceramic?
Ceramic restorations combine strength, durability, and natural esthetics. They can also have a radiographic density that more closely resembles natural tooth structure than very radiopaque materials such as metal or zirconia. This can make the restoration and supporting tooth easier to evaluate on dental X-rays, rather than appearing as a completely dense white area.
We select the restorative material based on the tooth, bite, remaining structure, strength needs, and long-term treatment goals.
The Natural Focus Difference
Technology doesn’t determine the treatment. The tooth does.
We use CEREC® as a tool—not as a reason to automatically place a crown.
Our goal is to choose the restoration that provides the support your tooth needs while preserving as much healthy natural tooth structure as reasonably possible.
We also consider your bite, function, material preferences, and long-term dental health when making recommendations.