One of the most common questions I’m asked as a dental technician is “What type of prep do you like best?”. The answer however is not an easy one. There are so many variables that play in to how an anterior tooth is prepped, such as, is it a rotated tooth, proclined or retroclined tooth or a root canalled tooth? Other important factors are is it a crown or veneer and what is the material selection? We will deal with each one of these eventually but for today we will focus on the ideally placed, small crack or decayed tooth that needs replaced. I will walk you through my preferences for both a crown and veneer.
Veneer Crown
Gingival 1/3 .3-.4 mm. 1.o mm.
Middle 1/3 .6 mm. 1.0 mm.
Incisal 1/3 .8mm. 1.3 mm.
Incisal 1.0-2.0 mm. 1.5-2.0 mm.
Lingual 1.0 mm.
TIP: Always be sure to follow the morphology of the tooth with your prep design. A natural tooth usually has a slight roll lingually on the facial one third of the tooth. If this is not accounted for in the prep you will have a window or show through in the ceramics.