On the 28^th of April, we were honoured to have second Masterclass Event for 2021 presented by Dr Alistair Dickson, Prosthodontist and sponsored by Nobel Biocare.

Dr Dickson, presentation was insightful and informative leading the attendees and listeners through the process of history taking to final restoration of the worn month. Dr Dickson highlighted the importance of taking an accurate history about what exactly concerns the patient whether it is darkness, length or proportion of their teeth. This enables the clinician to establish a list of concerns and appropriately develop a treatment plan with use of before and after photography.

Further to this Dr Dickson discussed smile design with incisal edge position and tooth proportions. He recommended that all practitioners have access to calipers and tooth proportion restorative charts. Throughout the Class, He made reference to different clinical cases and approaches to restoring worn teeth including with direct composite, porcelain fused to metal crowns, Emax, zirconia and gold.

Dr Dickson also explored the benefits and improvements to zirconia materials over the years as a substitute to Emax and the effect of restorative material on adjacent and opposing teeth.

At the close, Dr Dickson explored the subtle but ever important art of making a good temporary. He stressed the patient’s view that temporaries represent the final product and if the temporary isn’t high quality the patient may take this to mean that the final product is also poor. In a more practical sense, the presenter suggested applying a little extra wax to any wax up margins so that when making a putty key it allows for a more defined and polish-able margin.

We thank Dr Dickson for his time and sponsor Nobel Biocare for there display and support.

Ben Khoury
Recent Graduates Committee