Crowning achievements in dentistry.

A lifetime of bad dental experiences left Lewis VanDemark, 70, with more crowns than the British monarchy. Going to the dentist and getting a crown used to be an uncomfortable, painful, and time consuming experience. “My teeth have had problems since I was four years old,” said VanDemark. “I’ve had a fair amount of work and it was always painful.”

However, thanks to a breakthrough in crown technology, the thought of going to the dentist now makes VanDemark smile.

“I can get a crown done in a couple of hours,” he said. “It’s a fabulous experience. There is no pain. I have had three crowns done using the new way. If you’ve ever had a psychologically upsetting experience at the dentist, there is a better way and this is it. ”

The new way uses technology that is seemingly rooted in science fiction. Patients are raving about the results, said Alexis LaRose, dentist and owner with Kootenai Family Dental.

“We do same day crowns and our patients love them,” said LaRose. “Crown technology is changing dentistry forever and it’s changing it for the better.”

The American College of Prosthodontists estimates that 2.3 million crowns are made annually. Crowns replace a section of a tooth that has become damaged by decay, injury or has become weakened from previous dental work — sometimes decades ago. The traditional crown procedure, which has been the industry standard, included multiple visits over the course of weeks. The result was a protective cap over the tooth.

Patients endured injections for pain as the dentist would grind the bad sections away and then make wax impressions of the remaining tooth. This impression would be sent to the laboratory, where workers would make a permanent crown. It wasn’t uncommon for patients to have temporary crowns fall off during meals or in their sleep, prompting another trip to the dentist.

Once the permanent crowns were made, patients had to go back to the dentist for another lengthy procedure — installation. This could take at least an hour and in some cases patients would have to return to the dentist for tiny adjustments because their bite didn’t feel quite right. Those adjustments were a result of small imperfections created by the crown manufacturer in a laboratory.

Today’s modern tools can give older patients the feeling that dentistry has emerged from the dark ages, replacing chisels with computer-aided manufacturing.

“We’re one of the few dentists in the area who uses digital crown technology,” said LaRose. “We’re able to scan your tooth and make a three dimensional virtual model of what your tooth looks like.”

Those images, along with data from the dentist, are loaded into a design program.

“It’s almost like a satellite made a topographical map of the tooth,” said VanDemark. “It’s exciting watching the machine cut the crown to a perfect match.”

Once the digital model is made, a ceramic crown is generated through a milling process. After the crown is made, it goes into an oven where it’s baked at around 800 degrees.

“The baking process takes about 15 minutes,” said LaRose. “The crown starts off a lavender and turns to a porcelain color. It comes out shiny and strong.”

The result is a near perfect crown.

“The adjustments are minimal and that reduces pain for the patients,” said LaRose. “It’s a gentle process and we’re getting them done in less than two hours.”

That time savings is a big deal for patients like Jan Pollard of Coeur d’Alene, who works full-time.

“It’s amazing and really so much simpler,” said Pollard, who recently had a crown installed at Kootenai Family Dental. “I couldn’t believe it. I have had crowns before and this was nothing like the past. For me, it felt like going to the spa.”

— Written by Marc Stewart.

Marc Stewart is Director of Sponsored Content for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached at mstewart@cdapress.com or 208-664-8176, ext. 2011.