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. 

wires, drawings, and doodles

i hate how i can't update this blog as much as i'd like to anymore, so please bear with me readers. but i'm learning so much. 

it's a great feeling of accomplishment to make something with your hands. i love that moment of completion, of seeing everything come together and be worth it in the end. i was so happy to finish my first retainer. the wires are 18/8 steel - and very stiff. to fit the requirements of a retainer with that kind of wire made me want to rip my hair out - it was hours and hours of work, something i'm sure you wouldn't have guessed. the wire has to touch - but not push on certain teeth, it has to be a millimetre raised above certain spaces, it has to sit just so, dip here, twist here, be angled here. very aggravating in the moment. but my classmates and i are getting better and faster all the time.

i kind of liked this drawing assignment -  drawing can be very soothing. we had to anatomically draw the teeth to scale as well as label all their anatomical features.  compared to my classmates i was lucky - we used to have 6 hour drawing classes at OCAD. but i always feel like i can improve on my drawing skills, so it was good practice.

though, i do draw before i make my jewellery, but not to that detail. this little pendant is from one of the doodles in my sketchbook.

a new kind of palette

it's news for some, but i'm back in school again - with a slightly new direction: dental technology. i like it because we use very similar tools, methods, and materials as in jewellery, but this time with a more utilitarian function. compared to all the art forms i've dabbled in over the years, i've found jewellery to be the most exact and finicky.

but dental tech is worse - i didn't think it was possible. in jewellery, pieces that are supposed to be soldered have to be filed so they fit perfectly together with no gaps, little scratches are huge imperfections, and solder blobs drive you crazy and make you instinctively reach for a small hand file.

in dental tech, if something is off a tenth of a millimeter the whole piece may be useless, it may ruin the whole tooth setup or cause someone extreme pain. it's far more challenging than i thought it would be. though i've been told it will get easier in time, which is normally true, so i'm hopeful :p

so now i will also be a maker of dental appliances, and they'll pop up in here from time to time. i can already see how it's inspiring new jewellery work from me, we'll see where it goes from here.

some of you who have had retainers may recognize these acrylic palettes. i had to make orthodontic appliances while studying for my ortho exam. it's been hard transitioning back into study mode, but i'm getting back into it (i.e. i'm drinking coffee again). i like how from this angle, the first picture kind of looks like a trio of swans.