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Health: New Technology Makes Dentist Visit Easier

by Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Most people dread the dentist, especially multiple visits to fix a problem.  Health Reporter Stephanie Stahl is On Your Side with a new high tech way to get problems fixed in hours, instead of days, with better accuracy.

Making a fake tooth look real, can be an ordeal and take forever.  Not anymore, and it's a relief for Dawn Prunty.

"I have a cavity growing underneath a filling," said Dawn.  She needs a crown.  In the past, there would have been multiple visits and weeks with an uncomfortable temporary tooth, waiting for a lab to make the permanent crown.

"You're out of time, you're out of money and you're stuck with something you're really not pleased with," said Dawn.  So she's turning to Dr. Leonard Tau, with the Pennsylvania Center for Dental Excellence.  He can do crowns in just a couple of hours, with the new CEREC Omnicam.

"This enables me to take a tooth, prepare it, design it on the computer, mill it in my own office, stain and glaze it and deliver it in the same two-hour visit," said Dr. Tau.

Using a special color camera, Dr. Tau scans the tooth that needs repair, creating  a 3-D digital impression.  Then he designs the crown on the computer.

"That crown is then sent electronically to our milling device where the block is basically milled in usually about ten to fifteen minutes," said Dr. Tau.

The new ceramic crown is then cemented in Dawn's mouth.   This is all done within a couple of hours.

"I am really, really happy.  I am impressed.  We're done," said Dawn.

The new high-tech crown procedure Dr. Tau offers costs the same as a crown done in a lab, a little over $1500.  Insurance will typically cover a portion of the cost.

For more information, simple click the following link:

Pennsylvania Center for Dental Excellence CEREC Omnicam Information

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