For me, removing resin cement after cementing ceramic onlays to the abutments has always been a challenge, especially ceramic onlays milled in-office.

PrepSure is used to confirm that the proper amount of reduction has been performed on crown abutments—neither insufficient nor over-reduction—to avoid necessitating metal occlusion and prevent premature crown breakage. This, in turn, maximizes the longevity of the crowns and prevents hypersensitivity after crown seating. 

Sometimes a dentist is called upon to provide a crown under the clasp of an existing partial denture when significant dental decay has developed on the abutment tooth. 

I needed an instrument to guide and confirm the occlusal clearance mechanically to create ideal abutments every time for every patient. This avoids all the guesswork and any further waste of costly chair time, which could compromise an otherwise excellent patient experience.
And with that, PrepSure was born.

Through years of experience and research, I found that I had to consider two things when seating crowns: 1) Interproximal Relief (FAQ), and 2) Compensative Relief of the working stone die.

By using the Gray Final Polishing Strip, which is dependable, consistent, and accurate, you can easily determine contact intensity and confirm Interproximal Relief, which is essential when teeth are restored.

Tea or coffee stains between crowded, lower anterior teeth are very common and can be hard to reach with scaler tips. My hygienists worked diligently to remove tiny traces of stains that were inevitably left, but found the task very difficult. This on-going problem inspired me to develop the ContacEZ Pink Strip.

In my office, the broken implant body was removed successfully. 4 months later, a new implant was placed surgically on tooth #30. Then, another 4 months later, a new crown was fabricated and seated.

When seating crowns, Interproximal Relief (IR) should be restored as it exists in natural dentition. IR is the passive contact or microscopic clearance between teeth when they are in rest position. In my experiments, this clearance cannot be properly detected with floss, because floss is too thick and an inaccurate measuring device.

A new patient who came to my office had lost an implant-supported crown on tooth #2 because the abutment screw had broken. The patient's history showed that crown #2 was seated in 2008, and 5 years later crown #3 was seated in 2013.

After completing a new composite on Tooth #9, the incisal mesial corner is too sharp and needs to be leveled to match #8. The sharp corner is too small to use a rotary disc or bur without risking over-reduction of the composite, but the ContacEZ Black Diamond Strip is the perfect tool for the job.

After prepping a crown abutment, it is common to find sharp edges on the proximal surfaces of adjacent teeth. It is important to smooth and round these edges to ensure that the newly fabricated crown fits perfectly.

The ContacEZ Restorative Strip System is an innovative, precision dental strip system designed to achieve ideal proximal contact adjustment and complete marginal seating of crowns, veneers, inlays/onlays, and proximal contouring of composite fillings accurately with minimum time and effort.

During teeth cleanings, it is not uncommon to find rough gingival margins of restorations. Fixing these rough spots used to be a frustrating job, but, using the ContacEZ Gold Narrow Strip and Copper Narrow Strip, it is easier than ever.

A 93 year old female patient came in with tooth #25 very loose. X-rays showed #25 had no bony support and 23, 24 and 26 were also loose with minimum bony support. Splinting teeth 23, 24, 25, and 26 was recommended. To make the splinting solid, but to avoid leaving an empty center around the contact point, which weakens the splinting, the ContacEZ White Strip was used to spread composite masonry from facial to lingual.

Once in a while, a newly-made crown will not fit properly onto the abutment tooth. As a result, the crown will not be fully seated between adjacent teeth. This can be exceptionally frustrating, but here is an easy way to solve the problem.

Before taking crown impressions, any sharp edges on the proximal surfaces of the adjacent teeth are smoothened and polished with ContacEZ Restorative Strips. The proximal surfaces of adjacent teeth are also cleaned, contoured, and polished in anticipation of the new, properly fabricated crown. This procedure helps ensure the replacement crown fits perfectly and comfortably for the patient.

Achieving complete marginal seating and restoring Interproximal Relief (IR) is of the utmost importance when placing implant crowns. In addition to ensuring the long-term health of the restoration, confirming IR is also necessary for the patient's comfort and overall satisfaction.

Ensuring ideal contact adjustment on implant-supported crowns is a task that needs to be approached methodically. Tightening the crown too rapidly can make it nearly impossible to access the interproximal space, while adjusting while the crown is too loose is ineffective and potentially inaccurate. With a little patience and a pair of ContacEZ Strips, however, you can consistently achieve the best results simply and easily.

Seating crowns in posterior areas can be exceptionally difficult. In addition to limited accessibility, it is also hard to visually confirm each step of the process. X-rays taken both after proximal contact adjustment and again after cementation can be a vital tool in ensuring both complete marginal seating and the removal of all excess cement.