Cut-back technique briefly explained

The cut-back technique is used for monolithic crowns, usually in the anterior region, to achieve an optically perfect result. Cut-back means the reduction of the incisal edge of the artificial anterior tooth with simultaneous individual layering and firing of ceramics based on the anatomical and aesthetic characteristics of the neighboring teeth.

What is a monolithic crown?

A monolithic crown means that the crown consists of only one (="mono") ceramic material (="lithic"). This is a decisive difference to veneered crowns, which consist of both metal and (veneering) ceramic. Monolithic crowns are milled from all-ceramic - ideally zirconia due to its excellent material properties - or pressed or milled from lithium disilicate (glass ceramic). Both materials are CAD/CAM-compatible, highly stable, metal-free, biocompatible and body-compatible. Due to their high stability, monolithic all-ceramics are ideal for functional surfaces and thus for the biting and chewing function. The monolithic structure specifically prevents chipping due to fractures.

Why cut-back?

A monolithic crown is subsequently processed. Why? Because the monolithic crown blank cannot do everything. This is because opacity and translucency play an important role, especially in the anterior region. It is important to match the monolithic crown as precisely as possible to the neighboring teeth, which requires craftsmanship and know-how. Light, color, shape and three-dimensionality should harmonize perfectly with the play of colours of natural teeth and their light-optical effects. And all of this with economic efficiency for the dental laboratory and for reasons of cost to the patient. This is where the cut-back technique comes into play: the grinding back of the crown blank in the mamelon structures, including the application and firing of various ceramics.

Cut-back: dental know-how

In the case of a monolithic crown, perfect cut-back craftsmanship as the final treatment ensures optimum esthetics. A brief outline of this method:

  • Shade determination based on the existing initial situation of the dentition with sketching of the naturally occurring effects of the adjacent teeth

  • Determination of the die shade for the perfect selection of the base material and the ceramic effect materials and any required stains

  • Wash firing (1st firing) with speckle technique (scattering of fluorescent shoulder material as ceramic for a vivid play of colors) for ceramic full veneers or monolithic crowns with vestibular cut-back

  • Layering of dentin, effect and enamel materials according to sketch

  • Corrective firing, glaze firing

CONCLUSION

At CADdent, we live and learn cut-back, from our junior staff to our master craftsmen and women. Because art comes from skill, every day. Cut-back is craftsmanship combined with CAD/CAM technology. Our driving force: the natural smile of our patients, with a monolithic, affordable crown using the cut-back technique, which always looks like a real tooth thanks to removal and new application.

Cut-back is also ideal for natural-looking anterior veneers - wafer-thin, translucent veneers made of ceramic or composite for broken teeth, tooth discoloration, gaps and crooked teeth.

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