As most of us finished dental school, pfm crowns and amalgams used to be the standard. At that time, the focus was to heal the patients by eliminating infected areas in the case of the soft tissues or repairing the hard structures with fillings or crowns. There was no real room for esthetic improvements, because the materials available could not reproduce the optical properties of our teeth. In our days, we do have materials that can give back the health and function of natural structures as well as the esthetics. This is especially relevant with interdisciplinary cases, when an orthodontic treatment is performed prior to the final rehabilitation. In these cases, some teeth will have to be repaired by changing old restorations, other teeth will present certain wear that will have to be restored and other teeth might just need and esthetic “enhancement”.

The challenge we are facing now is how to choose the right technique and select the appropriate material depending on the indication for each case. We need to have a deep understanding about esthetic parameters and how to prioritize and relativize them depending from each patient. We should also stay updated to new developments in the techniques and materials and be aware about their potential, advantages and limitations.

In most of the cases, we tend to believe we fail because of lack of knowledge, experience and the bad laboratory we work with. Fortunately, this is not completely true. In most of the cases, we fail because we do not integrate what we already know and we do not have the clarity to find the best possible solution, because most of us tend to ignore the necessary structure to success in esthetic rehabilitation.

The lecture will try to give the necessary tools to master esthetic rehabilitation, based on several clinical cases and the challenges that each of them is presenting during the examination, treatment planning and execution of the treatment.

Course Objectives 

At the end of the program, the participants will be able to:

1. Understand the importance of proper planning and diagnostics when treating complex cases
2. Understand the last improvements in material science and the treatment possibilities
3. Understand the biomechanics involved when teeth are prepared
4. Decide when to make long term temporaries
5. Learn how to use direct and indirect techniques
6. Integrate ceramic work with composites

Demonstration

The participants will first have all the theoretical knowledge to understand the complexity of integrating different specialties. The biological background will be explained. The interaction between orthodontics and rehabilitation is going to be covered in detail.

Several clinical cases are going to be shown.

Teeth will be prepared based on the minimal invasive concept. A thin veneer, an occlusal veneer, table tops and combinations are going to be prepared. Then, the injection technique is going to be shown and demonstrated. Severe worn teeth are going to be treated in the posterior area. Then anterior teeth with spaces and worn incisal edges are going to be done.

The injection technique with a polychromatic approach and the crystal shell technique are going to be done in combination with classic layering and the FEM technique

Agenda