Skip to content A CEREC same-day crown is a custom porcelain crown designed, milled, and bonded in a single visit, no temporary crown and no second appointment weeks later. Most patients with enough remaining tooth structure to support a crown are candidates. At Harris Dental in Phoenix, our experience with same-day crowns is extensive. Dr. Brian Harris founded Arizona’s first CEREC study group in 2007 and is a certified CEREC trainer. Our award-winning cosmetic dentists craft crowns that blend in perfectly with your surrounding teeth.
Harris Dental’s dentists bring more than 40 years of combined experience to restoring damaged teeth, and our dentists design, mill, and bond your crown in-house instead of sending it out to a lab. That means fewer appointments, no gap wearing a temporary crown, and a dentist who has trained other dentists on this exact technology. Call (480) 428-0040 or request your appointment online to get your crown started.
CEREC uses a digital scanner and an in-office mill to design and create a porcelain crown from a single scan of your tooth. There’s no putty impression and no outside lab wait. At Harris Dental, the entire process, from scan to finished crown, takes about 90 minutes.
A cracked, worn, or heavily filled tooth often needs a crown to stay functional. Traditionally, that meant a messy impression, a temporary crown you’d wear for two to three weeks, and a second appointment once the lab sent back the permanent one. CEREC removes that wait.
Our dentists use a digital impression, a 3D scan of your tooth captured with a small wand instead of a tray of putty, and use design software to build your crown to fit your bite exactly. The crown is then milled from a solid block of tooth-colored ceramic in-office and bonded in place the same day. You walk out with a permanent crown, not a temporary one.
Dr. Brian Harris founded Phoenix CEREC Studies in 2007, the first CEREC study group in Arizona, and is a certified CEREC trainer at both the basic and advanced level. That means your crown is designed by someone who teaches this technique to other dentists, not someone still learning it on your tooth.
Dr. Brian Harris was voted Phoenix Magazine's Top Dentist from 2007 to 2021, and Harris Dental's work has been featured in USA Today and Oprah Magazine. For a crown that sits in your smile every day, that kind of sustained recognition is a sign you're not the first patient he's gotten this right for.
Laughing gas and oral conscious sedation are available under DOCS-certified protocols for patients who put off dental work because of anxiety. You can get your dental crowns without the fear and discomfort, and know that you're in good hands with our skilled team.
Traditional crowns require two visits and two to three weeks with a temporary crown while a lab fabricates the permanent one. CEREC crowns are designed, milled, and bonded in a single visit using the same durable ceramic material, without the wait or the temporary.
The material itself isn’t the difference; both methods can use strong, tooth-colored ceramic. The difference is the timeline and the number of things that can go wrong along the way. A temporary crown can loosen, leak, or let bacteria in while you wait for the permanent one. A second appointment means a second round of numbing and, occasionally, a second round of adjustments if the lab’s crown doesn’t fit quite right.
With CEREC, Dr. Harris designs and mills your crown in the same room he’s treating you in, so any bite or fit adjustment happens immediately instead of at a follow-up visit. For patients who’ve had a temporary crown fall off or feel loose before, this is usually the difference they notice most.
Your CEREC appointment starts with numbing and preparing the tooth, followed by a digital scan instead of a putty impression. Dr. Harris designs your crown chairside, mills it in-office, and bonds it in place, all in roughly 90 minutes.
Most CEREC crown appointments take about 90 minutes from numbing to the final bonded crown. That includes the digital scan, chairside design, in-office milling, and fitting. Traditional crowns, by comparison, require a second appointment two to three weeks later.
Yes. CEREC crowns are milled from the same solid ceramic material used in traditional lab crowns, so strength and durability are comparable. The difference is in the timeline, not the material.
Most dental insurance plans cover a portion of a medically necessary crown, whether it’s made same-day with CEREC or through a dental lab. Our team checks your specific benefits before treatment so you know your out-of-pocket cost in advance. Financing is available for any remaining balance.
A traditional crown requires a putty impression, a temporary crown, and a second visit two to three weeks later once a dental lab finishes the permanent one. A CEREC crown is scanned, designed, milled, and bonded in one visit at Harris Dental, using the same type of durable ceramic.
No. Because the permanent crown is designed and milled the same day, you leave your appointment with the finished crown already bonded in place. There’s no interim temporary crown to worry about loosening or falling off.
The tooth is numbed before any preparation, so most patients feel pressure rather than pain during the appointment. For patients with dental anxiety, sedation options including laughing gas are available.
CEREC crowns typically last 10 to 15 years with normal wear, and often longer with good oral hygiene and regular checkups. Grinding, heavy chewing on hard foods, and skipped cleanings are the most common reasons a crown needs replacement sooner.
If Dr. Harris finds decay reaching the nerve or an infection during your exam, a root canal is completed first and the crown is placed afterward to protect the treated tooth. This is determined during your initial exam, not after you’re already in the chair for a crown.
Yes. The milling material is shaded to match your surrounding teeth, so CEREC crowns are used on both front teeth and back molars. Shade matching is part of the chairside design step before milling.
A cracked or heavily filled tooth left uncrowned is more likely to fracture further, sometimes below the gumline where it can no longer be saved with a crown alone. Addressing it early with a crown is usually less invasive and less costly than waiting until the tooth breaks.
Harris Dental’s dentists bring more than 40 years of combined experience to patients from our office on N. 32nd St.
We also see patients from Arcadia, Biltmore, Paradise Valley, and across the greater Phoenix Valley for same-day crown work.
Whether you’re a longtime patient with a cracked filling or new to Harris Dental with a tooth that needs attention now, same-day scheduling means you’re not waiting weeks to fix a problem that’s already bothering you.
PATIENT TESTIMONIALS
Sarah’s Story
“It has changed my confidence in many ways. I can smile more. [Dr. Joe Harris] has changed my life in more ways than I can ever tell him.”
Mary’s Story
“Before I used to hide my smile, and now I just can’t help but smile all the time!”
Nile’s Story
“It’s really brought me a lot of confidence that I didn’t even know I was lacking.”
We would love to hear from you!
Please feel free to call us at 480-428-0040 or email us using the contact form on this page!
We would love to hear from you!
Please feel free to call us at 480-428-0040 or email us using the contact form on this page!
