Another question from me on bridges and crowns

[sharon]

I'm having #10 pulled and a crown on #11 to support the bridge. I'm petrified of impressions because of my fear of gagging and I also have a very tiny mouth so those things fill it right up. I asked him if I will need the large impressions and he gave me a very evasive answer, then he said something about scanning everything. He said it was similar to what it done for Cerec crowns but not exactly the same.

Does anyone know what he is talking about? What kind of scanning is this? I have an appt to be scanned in about 4 weeks (hoping my tooth doesn't fall out before that) and it's set up for an hour and fifteen minutes. If my tooth is still in my mouth he certainly can't scan for the crown and bridge, can he? He knows of my horrible fear of impressions so I think he purposely wan't answering because he knows I will need a large fill up the entire mouth kind of impression and if he tells me I need that he knows he won't see me again.

I don't need a pep talk about how easy impressions can be, what i need to know is can a non-Cerec crown and bridge in the front be done without an impression? Or better yet, can this all be done with Cerec and no impression? If so, I think I'll find a new dentist who can do this.

 

[tigerstripedred]

i don't really know the answers but you could ask them to mix the impression stuff a little thicker so it doesn't ooze out as much. One of my dental assistants did that for me and it helped. Also i saw your other post...i don't know why they would graft exactly if you aren't getting an implant . you might try the dental questions section where one of the dentists here might see it.

 

[carole]

Hi I haven't had this but from what I understand a cerec crown is done by scans and no impressions needed. A thread on here, and I will try find it for you, goes into this subject by someone that had their crowns etc done using this method.

They stated that scanning was more accurate than impressions and the crown was done while they sat and watched the machine make a perfect fitting crown with no problems after. It seems as if it is a bit like a made to measure suit verses an off the rail suit.

All the best

 

[sharon]

Hi and thank you both for your answers. I've had 4 crowns done the cerec way and it was great because I didn't have to have the big impression (did have to have a little one) and it was all done in one day, so I'm pretty familiar with this procedure. What I don't understand is that my dentist does NOT do cerec (in fact I had to leave him and go elsewhere to have the other 4 done) so I don't know what he means when he says that what he does is similar to cerec but not the same. Or what exactly he is going to scan that will take an hour +. At the time of my scanning I will have all of my teeth in my mouth (providing the bad one hasn't fallen out by then) so I don't understand how he can scan for the crown and bridge at that time. I asked and he wouldn't explain to me, just said that everything will fall into place. This is very confusing to me and makes me want to go elesewhere - to someone who is willilng to explan things in a decent way.

As best as I can figure maybe he will do the scanning and send the scans to a third party who will mill them outside of his site. But if he is doing that, then why scan everything before the tooth is gone and adjacent tooth prepared for the crown? And if he is doing that, I assume I'll need a temporary crown and will therefore need the large impression because that is all done in house. And now thinking further if one tooth is being pulled won't I need a temp crown anyway because I can't imagine pulling and crowning and healing happening all in one day.

 

[tigerstripedred]

maybe they can tell the bite better with th real tooth in place?. does your office have a dental assistant that typically works with the dentist. maybe having that person call you and answer questions might be helpful. my poor dental assistant had to call and answer questions for my implant at least twice. And my dentist answered questions many times prior but i was at appointments then.
It's worth trying at least and maybe they will only do impressions for the teeth affected.

 

[tigerstripedred]

they may be making you a temporary flipper to put in if you want while you are healing....since your tooth is a front one? the one i had lost was,just far enough you cant see it when i smile so i was fine leaving it, but if i ever loose a front one i would personally be too uncomfortable to go out without some temporary thing in there. I am pretty sure they do make those.

 

[sharon]

Yes, I'll be having a temporary tooth but I don't understand how he can "scan" for that if the tooth is still in my mouth. He was so darn poor at explaining things and I was left with so many unanswered questions. I've pretty much decided to try to find another dentist.

 

[tigerstripedred]

maybe they want to see the bite with the natural tooth so that the copy will look as real as possible since you are doing a bridge and not an implant

 

[comfortdentist]

There are several scanners that take digital impressions. I have an itero. It is better than a cerec 1 appointment crown technique for your bridge. Alternative is a short impression tray which only takes up the front 1/2 and is easier on a "gagger".