Perfect Preparations - Key to Perfect Restorations

Today I want to talk about preparations. Your lab technician can be an important part of the team that lets your patients know that your main interest is them, their comfort, and their trust in you. Therefore, this step

should be done as close to perfection as possible to end up with excellent results. Look closely at the photo to the left. That is an ideal prep for an all-ceramic crown. In order to achieve the best results I recommend smoothing your prep with fine diamonds, making sure you have no sharp edges, no holes in your prep, trying to keep the margins from going subgingival, and always trying for a 1.5-2.0mm occlusal reduction. For a molar, do the same thing, just a little bigger.

One little trick I always tried to use was to look at my prep and say to myself "If this was to appear in an article, would I be proud of it?". If your preps look like this all the time, then the rest of the process is a slam dunk, your chair time is reduced, your profits go up, and your patients leave with a smile on their face. Next week: Impression tips to pass the most information on to your technician. Stay tuned!

If you would like to discuss this week's tip, please call us at 1-866-484-7920 or email info@magellandental.com to set up a call time..