The Optimal Preparation For A Dental Crown

Compare the dental clinic to a kitchen in a restaurant. The outcome is the food, which may look appealing. But when you get sick after eating it because the kitchen where the food was prepared was not clean, or the ingredients have been tossed in for a quick preparation, you as a customer will not be satisfied, and probably will not visit the restaurant again. Poor preparation can thus lead to several problems. This is also the case for the preparation of the tooth for placing a dental crown. And once the tooth is cut, there is no return. The process is unfortunately irreversible.

Be wise before choosing a dental clinic, ask for the actual tooth preparation and find out how the preparation is done. Make yourself physically look good with beautiful teeth, and be mentally assured that the dental clinic uses the best technique for your best interest.

A tooth can be prepared by cutting in several ways such as :   

1.Tangent Cut   2. Step Cut  3.Groove Cut

1.The Tangent Cut

The tangent cut is a relatively quick procedure and the most used one, because the tooth just needs to be cut diagonally. The disadvantage of the tangent cut however is unattractive and bulging edges. To hide these edges the cutting margins are set under the gums. But pieces of food or other things can easily get caught in these margins. This leads to the inflammation of the gums leading to receding gums and eventually caries.

2. The Step Cut

The step cut is also a relatively quick procedure, where the tooth is cut in a step shape. One disadvantage however is that the glue used in the cementing of the crown cannot flow away. This increases the risk of losing the glue and eventually can lead to caries.

3. The Groove Cut

Groove cut is a cutting technique where there are round edges; this guarantees a thin cement gap as well as smooth transition areas between tooth crown and tooth. The cement is able to flow off because of the round edges. There is enough space for the ceramic parts, the edges are tightly sealed, and pieces of food can’t get caught. The groove cut is the most complex type of tooth preparation, but combines all advantages of the cutting techniques.

Tourmedical uses the Groove Cut when preparing the tooth for placing crowns. Sometimes other dentists say to us ‘why do you bother with such a time-consuming procedure?’. But we strongly believe that avoiding the risks caused by the other techniques, and above all the health and satisfaction in the long run of our patients, are more important than using a quick procedure.

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