Told by Office Manager Joan Arkema
We have the privilege of having a CEREC machine in Hart. What’s so great about a CEREC you ask? Well, we are able to prep, mill, bake and deliver a ceramic/porcelain crown all in one sitting. Patients are very receptive to the idea of one stop crowns and are really taking advantage of it.
One of our favorite stories from Hart is a single mom who has always smiled with her hand covering her mouth. She had a crown placed several years ago and it was discolored and didn’t fit her smile very well. The patient came in to see Dr. Scott Gilliland. He was sure we could take that old crown off and give her smile back to her. This patient was here during one of our CEREC training days so Dr. Scott and Dr. Killian designed the crown and the patient watched while it was milled. After trying the crown on, it was baked and cemented into place. The patient looked in the mirror that was handed to her by the assistant, and immediately started crying. She was so happy to have a crown that matched her other teeth and looked “normal”. As the patient walked out to the waiting room, she hugged everyone that she came in contact with. There were many of us that were so touched by this. She said she was going to go back and finish up her schooling, and she was SURE that she would be finding a job. We did have to remind her a couple times it was okay to smile without putting her hand in front of her mouth.
Our next patient, Bernard Topping wanted to improve his smile. His desire was to replace the 6 anterior maxillary teeth with crowns. This patient had a crown in front that was too long and very discolored in front, and had quite a bit of spacing between his teeth.
Dr. Byard was convinced that we could definitely improve Bernie’s smile. Since he was a private insurance patient, and we had never done this large of a case before, Dr. Byard and Dr. DesJardins worked together to lower the cost for this patient to complete all six crowns.
Dr. Killian was here to help with this case and everyone worked together to get a fabulous result. Bernie is VERY happy with his smile. He is such a nice guy with a great sense of humor. We were happy to see him smile with no reservations.
The CEREC machine has really changed the confidence level of many of our patients. We are so happy to have it along with the sliding scale to improve our patients lives—one smile at a time.
