Temporary Crowns
Author: Anonymous posted: Apr. 27, 2017.
I recently took a continuing education course for dentists and dental assistants to learn how to make temporary crowns. Although the course seemed to teach the most basic techniques, it was still very educational. To make a temporary, you simply take an impression, adjust some spaces, inject temporary material into the impression, put the impression back on the prepared tooth, and carve the hardened material into a shape of a tooth. Very simple. Or so I thought…
On my first attempt at making a temporary crown on a model, I was confident that everything would go smoothly. First, I took the initial impression, and got the correct bite. So far so good. After prepping the teeth for the crown, it was my turn to finish by making the temporary crown. I had checked the impression and it looked good so I injected the temporary material and put the matrix back on the model. Two minutes later, I took out the matrix and the temporary material was stuck on the tooth. I’m thinking, “Ok, no problem, let me take it off like Dr. Wong always does with an excavator or hemostat.” *many nudges later, it still doesn’t come off* After ten minutes of attempting to take it off, it finally came out safely. So finally, I shaped the temporary and made it look like a tooth and then tried to put the crown back in its place. *puts the temp back in and doesn’t fit* Now I’m thinking, “what did I do wrong?! they didn’t teach me what to do if it doesn’t fit!” So I ask the great Dr. Wong for some help. He comes in, adjusts the inside of the temporary crown so that it made more space for the tooth to fit. Finally, I cemented the temporary, cleaned the area and finished, albeit stressed.
In dentistry, I am expecting to run into many problems likes this, probably even harder. Dr. Wong tells me I will run into situations where you need to think critically and solve it yourself. In the future, I want to be able to do everything without having someone to help me out of a situation like Dr. Wong had to. This experience is all part of learning but I can’t wait until I can be independent and do all the procedures by myself.