Taper of full-veneer crown preparations by dental students at the University of the West Indies.

Purpose: The ideal taper recommended for a full-veneer crown is 4° to 14°, but this is very difficult to achieve clinically, and studies on taper achieved by dental students have found mean taper measurements ranging from 11° to 27°. The objective of this study was to examine and compare the taper of teeth prepared for full-veneer crowns by dental students on typodonts in the laboratory and on patients, and also to compare the results with those of other dental schools.

Materials And Methods: Preparations were scanned by specialized metrology equipment that gave the taper of the preparation in a buccolingual (BL) and mesiodistal (MD) plane.

Abutment taper of full cast crown preparations by dental students in the UWI School of Dentistry.

Retention of crowns has been shown to be inversely proportional to taper. The objective of this study was to compare the abutment taper of teeth prepared for full veneer crowns by students at the UWI School of Dentistry with those of other dental schools. Twenty five dies were scanned by a Co-ordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) and the mean taper and standard deviations were found to be 20.