1. Numb, drill, temporize and impress the tooth. 2. Last visit: cement crown, adjust bite if needed.
The number of visits needed to have a crown made for a tooth depends upon the type of restoration that will be fabricated. Traditionally, a crown required a minimum of two visits to the dentist. On the first visit, the tooth would be prepared, an impression of the prepared tooth would be made and sent to a laboratory so that the permanent crown could be fabricated, and a provisional or temporary crown would be placed on the tooth. Depending on the lab's turn-around time, the patient would wear the temporary crown for 1 to 3 weeks. On the second visit, the temporary crown would be removed and the permanent crown would be placed onto the prepared tooth. Many dentists, myself included, have the ability to fabricate all-ceramic crowns in one visit. Often, I can accomplish this procedure in a little over an hour. Utilizing computerized scanners and CAD-CAM technology (CEREC), we can create beautiful crowns with unsurpassed precision--all in one visit. So, the number of visits depends upon the type of crown.
