Single-track, IMHO, is the best type of mountain biking, It is a way to be isolated. There is only one way to go - follow the path and accept what pops up in from to you. Deviating from the path slows the process and makes it much harder to finish the ride.

With CEREC, the single-track way is an efficient way but there are cases where you have to deviate. And when you do deviate, it doesn’t mean it will make the CEREC case more difficult or time consuming.

Here is a case that forced us to look for a different path. At first it may have seemed like the harder route, but, in actuality, it turned out to very straight forward.

The patient calls saying they broke a tooth and, of course, they asked if they could come in today. It seems they were leaving on summer vacation tomorrow. We told them to come in during the last time slot prior to lunch so we could see what we were dealing with. This is what walked in the door - lingual cusp fractured off on a tooth that was an abutment for a partial lower denture.

Abutments for partials with CEREC - no problem. Tight schedule – now that is a problem. Or is it?

The refinements in CEREC Chairside 4.3 Software help to make the alternate route a smooth one. In this case, tooth structure was still present where the retentive arm of the clasp and the rest seat engaged. Only the lingual cusp where the reciprocal arm rests had to be recreated. So let’s copy what is there and replace what is missing - BioCopy+ Buccal Bite+ Upper Jaw + Lower Jaw. 

Now that covers most of it but what about the clasp - do we have to do a mock-up or do we just guess and grind it in after milling? Both of these could be options but that would lead us down a harder path, and my lunch is waiting. How can we do this digitally? The answer is Gingiva Mask. It is not just for abutments. We can register the position of the clasp and use the tools to build the proposal to fit. So I add a catalog and image the arch that has the partial in the patient’s mouth. All imaging was done prior to prepping to save time.

I go straight forward to design the restoration using the Functional Beauty method taught by Dr. Skramstad in the cerecdoctors.com Level 3 course. The only modification I do is to cut out the fractured area and allowing the software to fill it in. 

Minor adjustments are done when Gingiva Mask folder is turned on and we are good to go. The perfect lingual surface for the existing clasp profile - all done digitally - all done efficiently.

When we apply the principles of esthetic preparations and translucencies of materials, we cannot only create the functional but also esthetic restorations.

Since this can all be done digitally, it can be done in the most efficient manner. As you can see from the Case Tracker in the cerecdoctors.com App, we were not only able to save the patient’s vacation, but, more importantly, my lunch!

A complete video of this process is available to view in the Digital Learning section of cerecdoctors.com. 

LIKE!!!

Sweetness! Very informative!

I have a similar scenario soon. I'd like to watch the video but can't get it to play. Have you had anyone else have this problem? By the way, great case to share!