Diagnostic Wax-ups
Diagnostic wax-ups provide a highly valuable means of ensuring the functional and aesthetic success
of many types of dental treatment - not just complex cases.
Besides providing confirmation that a proposed course of treatment is technically feasible, this
relatively inexpensive diagnostic tool offers - amongst others - the following important advantages:
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It highlights any functional treatment that may be required to ensure the long-term success of, for
example, anterior restorations, which are cosmetically motivated. It may, for example, be necessary
to open the bite and stabilise posterior support before proceeding with the crowning of anterior teeth.
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It enables us to be pro-active in offering technical advice on the most suitable material and
preparations for the proposed course of treatment.
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It provides the patient with a realistic indication of how the final restoration will look and function.
This, in turn, creates realistic Patient expectations;
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The diagnostic wax-up can then be used to create a matrix for the provision of the temporary restoration
and to fabricate preparation guides. At that point, a full, aesthetic assessment can be made of the
suitability of the temporary restoration (based on the diagnostic wax-up) in the Patient's mouth.
Any desired alterations can then be applied to the final restoration. This ensures the best possible degree
of Patient satisfaction with the final restoration.