Tag Archive for: onlays

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Cosmetic Dentistry That Lasts

Cosmetic dentistry is the artsy part of dentistry — where we get to give your teeth makeovers. But cosmetic dentistry is more than just making your teeth look good on the outside. The beauty must go further than skin deep (er… enamel-deep…?). What if a crown or restoration conflicts with the way the opposing teeth bite against it? That seems like an obvious problem, but if you are not aware of how much a tiny adjustment can impact your entire jaw/head, then it is, in fact, an issue that must be approached with special care and consideration.

In most cases, though, it will be the restoration that shows signs of deterioration first. Cracking, chipping, even falling off altogether… and this may harm whatever natural tooth or tissues are bonded to this restoration. Pankey takes great care in training its dentists to take careful measures to ensure cosmetic improvements will also be functional and long-lasting. A little extra time and effort may go into forming a nicely fitted restoration, but the longterm benefits outweigh the initial installation process.

Perfectly colored or straight-looking teeth are only the tip of the iceberg!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

CEREC Inlays and CEREC Partial Crowns

The CEREC process for designing inlays and onlays is similar to the designing of a crown, only the function is different.

CEREC inlays are the superior versions of composite plastic cavity fillings; superior due to the strength and aesthetics that the ceramic brings. Inlays milled from this ceramic material last far longer than any other cavity solution. They also behave most similarly to natural tooth enamel, in both appearance and feel.

Onlays (a.k.a. partial crowns) are the remedy to extensive cavity damage, covering a larger area of the tooth. In past cases, the weaker disposition of composite — or the porcelain restorations that contained metal — would require a full crown to be designed in order to maintain the tooth’s strength. Because CEREC onlays are so strong, one that is well-built will do everything it needs to do, causing minimal extra tooth damage and eliminating the need for a full crown.

Best of all, CEREC high quality porcelain inlays and onlays can be done in one visit, just like their plastic counterfeits… I mean counterparts.

Dr. Boyajian, Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

CEREC Inlays + CEREC Partial Crowns

One of the greatest perks that comes with CEREC technology is the speed at which we can formulate restorations. In comparison to barely twenty years ago, forming a crown or veneer required a painful series of several dental visits. There were molds to be made, pictures to be photographed, temporary crowns to be endured, a perfectly fitted restoration to be slowly developed in a lab, and bonding to be done. CEREC accomplishes all of this in a single visit, in just a few hours!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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CEREC One-Visit Holistic Dentistry

CEREC is a state-of-the-art system that allows full restorations of one or more teeth to be made in a single visit to the dentist’s office. Whether it is a crown, inlay, onlay, filling, or veneer, the CAD/CAM technology the CEREC unit uses will design and produce a perfect restoration of the damaged tooth. The replacement material looks like, feels like, and is strong as a real tooth; biocompatibility and aesthetics are well-maintained; and further damage to the tooth is eliminated.

Do you have a need for a crown, or have large cavities? Have you had trouble with previous “restorations”? Do they look awful or keep on falling apart? Look into CEREC dentistry. There’s no better option!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Surfing Adventures

In Hawaii, our vacation home host works at a surfboard manufacturing shop. I was curious about the trade, so I took my son and daughter-in-law inside the shop to see if we could get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes (rather, behind the rows and rows of colorful boards found in shops on every corner on the North Shore!) process of surfboard making. May as well since we were already there! Though many people surf in Los Angeles, I think it would be harder to just walk in the back door of a random surfboard place and “demand” a tour.

The white (often colored) boards we usually see are made out of polyurethane or polystyrene foam. Balsa and other light woods are also commonly used, only they are much more expensive than the foam boards. The shape and size of the board is sanded down to resemble what looks exactly like a surfboard carved out of fancy styrofoam or wood. Much care is taken in measuring the shapes, sizes, and weights of the boards. Then layers of fiberglass, cloth, paint (for designs), and resins are applied to form the complete product. We saw some beautiful boards, including a custom-made decorative one made out of several different hardwoods.

Being a dentist, I couldn’t help but compare the similarities in this process, and the restoration process used in CEREC system, which I have and definitely use. When a tooth needs restoration, the CEREC system records a digital image of the tooth’s structure, and within a matter of hours, carves out a perfect crown/filling out of a small block of ceramic inside a special machine (many demonstrations of this were held at the ADA Session). The faulty tooth is sanded down ever so slightly, and then, after some refining, fitting, and adjusting of the occlusion, the crown/filling is bonded or cemented right where it needs to be, fitting perfectly with the other teeth. It’s quite amazing.

Aloha!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com