Adjusting Occlusion At Crown Seat Appointment

All dentists occasionally have difficulty adjusting occlusion on an everyday crown. Sometimes we just can’t seem to find that one little spot the patient keeps telling us is there. “Doc, it still feels a little bit high, but it is very close.”

Try this next time to find the evasive interference:

1. Take a firm PVC like Memoreg II and syringe out the posterior quadrant and let it set completely.
2. Remove from the mouth and evaluate the impressed area where the crown is. Hold it up to the light and see where the through and through contact points are.
3. Then take a number 2 round bur and carefully open up the contact point(s). Now you will have one or more obvious perforations in the PVS where the true contacts are.
4. Put the PVS back in the mouth and “color in” the holes you made with a number 2 lead pencil. Removed the PVS
5. You will now see graphite marks on the offending areas of the crown and you can remove then out of the mouth with ease and accuracy!