and aesthetic recovery of a damaged tooth

General criteria for the functional and aesthetic recovery of a damaged tooth

The abovementioned daily challenge also applies to dental technicians who produce dental prostheses with the required characteristics. The success of the tooth preparation and the fabrication (by the technician) of a dental prosthesis is closely linked to the final phase performed by the clinician, i.e., cementation, which is the creation of a stable and lasting bond between the tooth and the prosthesis.

To address the topic of cementation, one must be aware of all the substrates to be interconnected and of the products that can bind them to the surrounding biological structures in a nearly irreversible manner. This concise definition hides a long series of elements that should be carefully considered. It is necessary to consider the mechanical and physical characteristics, the precise structure of the tooth concerned, and the prosthetic artifact; to achieve the intended purposes, it is necessary to carefully analyze the chemical composition and chemical reaction behind each product used to create an adhesive cementation. To this one must add considerations relative to the position and size of the prosthetic artifact. Therefore, let us summarize the prosthetic preparations for fixed dentures.

The first classification is determined by the size of the damaged portion and is represented by preparing a part of the coronal portion (inlay, onlay, or overlay) (! 1.1) or by preparing the entire coronal portion (crown and bridge) (! 1.2 and 1.3).

! 1.1 Examples of partial preparations.