How to Predictably and Efficiently Temporize Veneers for Patient Goals
by John NostiTo temporize veneers is to perform an essential task that can determine your ability to achieve patient goals.
Temporaries make the process of veneers a little more like working in clay than in marble. We get the chance to really know our patient’s desires and transfer those intentions to a real solution.
Many techniques can work depending on the dentist and the patient goals, but I’ve found a shrink wrap temporary technique is one of the best there is:
Temporize Veneers With This Shrink Wrap Technique
The first step in this temporaries fabrication process is to place a desensitizer such as Ivoclar Vivadent Systemp over the existing preparations and then make sure they are dry. Similarly, you should place a light-cure total-etch dental adhesive over the preparations and blot to dry.
Next, load a two-stage silicone matrix such as Ivoclar’s Sil-Tech Plus with a high-quality bisacryl material in the preferred shade. Allow this to set for approximately 1.5 minutes. Then, tease the matrix off so that you can proceed to finish and polish the temporaries. This process involves removing any excess material with carbide finishing burrs and a product akin to Ivoclar’s Astropol polishing points.
It’s important to round this solid technique off with verification of the occlusion, which we all know is imperative to the success of the veneers. You should also communicate the final positions with the patient and determine a final shade.
Another detail you won’t want to overlook is checking that the patient can put floss threaders or super-floss interproximally below the contact points. This extra step goes a long way in ensuring that they can achieve proper hygiene and have a healthy mouth at their next cementation visit.
Finally, take impressions that you can send to the lab and communicate information like size and shape. Also, begin mounting models on an articulator in addition to repeating a facebow transfer and bite records. Document your work with photographs that can be given to the ceramist.
When you temporize veneers, you let your patient test drive their final restorations. It’s a process you should complete even with no prep cases to give your patient more decision-making sway over their care.
