crown and bridge

i've finally finished my first year as a dental technology student. it was with a huge sigh of relief when i finished my last exam and handed in my last assignment. i learned how to make a lot of things this year - mouthguards, retainers, dentures, partial dentures, space maintainers, crowns and copings. and while my crown and bridge class was definitely the most stressful, i think that i like making crowns the most.

out of all the things i learned to do this past year, making crowns is definitely the most artistic and similar to jewellery. which is probably why i like it the most. when you're done waxing up a crown there is a sense of accomplishment and pride that doesn't come as much as setting up the teeth in dentures, or just carving down pre-made teeth. in crown and bridge you are making the forms and you're so proud when you're done. 

when making crowns, every line angle, every elevation, every area that hits another tooth is important. while we consider symmetry, we also have to consider how the jaws move, how much pressure is exerted and the teeth that remain in the mouth.

boo...blurry photo. oh well. like in jewellery, we make the forms in wax first and then cast them in metal. porosity is a huge deal in crown and bridge, too much of it and the form is unuseable. if the margins on the bottom of the tooth form don't cast properly it won't fit in the space it's supposed to on the mouth.

i've never had to be so precise in my life, but i'm liking it.