Gold Advantage E-Newsletter - July 2009

Tales From The Bench – Avoid Canting.

This quarterly feature will highlight case corrections and tips from the bench that optimize the results learned from cases before you!

By Paul Lindsey

The indication of the smile line is as crucial in smile design as a good impression. (Which we will cover next time!) A stick bite will enable the ceramist the ability to confirm the smile line and mid line to the patients face. Now let me walk you thru the process of taking this bite.

Items needed will include bite registration material and a Rigistick, as pictured below. Please refrain from using a wooden stick from this procedure. The wood will warp when disinfected and become useless. A plastic straw will distort and a Bendabrush simply bends.

Have the patient stand, express bite registration on the mandibular incisors from canine to canine. Have the patient close into centric.
Express additional bite registration material facial to the maxillary incisors.
Before the material sets up roll rigid plastic stick into the bite registration, have the patient look straight ahead (almost looking thru you).
Position the stick perpendicular to the long axis of the face. Using the patient’s eyes as an indicator is a good reference, the problem is most peoples eyes are not exactly level.
Check the sticks positioning from the profile as well. If one side of the stick is further facial that the other the smile line on the finial could be skewed.
Take photos of the stick bite along with the customary AACD shots.

Even if the stick bite is not dead on, with the use of the photos adjustments can be accomplished. Make sure that your stick bite captures a good impression of the mandibular incisors. We trim the stick bite so it can sit on the mandibular cast enabling us to level the maxillary restorations or wax up to the stick. We can also compare the stick bite to the temporaries to determine if additional changes need to be addressed.

Order Rigistick from Gold Dust Dental Lab 800-513-6131
Box of 50 - $19