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Highly experienced dental technician Steve Killian shares the simple formula he has observed to be the foundation for lasting dental restorations. |
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For those that don’t know me I first need to let you know that throughout my career as a dental technician occlusion has been one of my strong points. I have had to learn all the past and current philosophies whether it be Pankey-Dawson, LVI Myotronics, Bio-Esthetic, you name it. If my dentist customers wanted to work to a particular philosophy, I needed to understand it if I, or my company, were to deliver the quality restorations I wanted them to expect.
What I’ve noticed is that those dentists who are as strong as me on occlusal concepts, and restore according to these proven concepts, are the only group who succeed long term with restoring teeth. Other philosophies may have some success but the only truly solid base for restoration is one in which CR and CO/MIP coincide… period. My restorations have always held up in that environment regardless of other circumstances.
I hate to gripe, but why do I have difficulty bringing everyone to consider that if the tooth broke down and we are going to restore it without considering occlusal disease as one probable cause, then it is quite likely that our restoration will be put through similar trauma with resultant failure? None of us like failures, so let’s take advantage of the understanding that is out there and give the patients failure-proof restorations!
You may think I am being a little dogmatic here but if you were in my position, with the witness of tens of thousands of dental restorations, you would find it difficult to be vague on this topic. If you, as a dentist, want your restorations to last you had better develop a good understanding of occlusion and include CR=CO/MIP in your restoration formulae! There’s no mystery here – learn what it takes and apply that learning!
I’d love to read your comments on how I, as a technician providing a service, might help others to come around to first diagnosing the occlusal condition before restoring. How can I help them do the right thing without appearing to be avoiding blame in the remake of a broken restoration? What would you recommend?
Steve Killian, CDT
Killian Dental Ceramics – providing the finest
