This consists of approximately a 15 minute appointment where the technician (in-office or at the lab) checks the colour (hue, value, chroma) of the adjacent natural teeth to give the ceramist the correct colouring for the substructure/coping of the restoration. A picture of the natural smile line (whole face) is taken for anterior prosthetics.

This appointment takes approximately one hour and is usually scheduled after the restoration has completed the biscuit bake. The patient’s restoration is given their final colour matching with the ceramist to ensure a beautiful result.

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* Please note: Custom shades for Empress restorations may take up to 2 hours due to the extended length of firing times.

The stump shade is the colour of the tooth after the preparation is completed. It is usually the colour of the dentin and is needed by the ceramist to fabricate an all-ceramic crown.

The most important step in any lab work is the impression as this is what our technician work with. When using alginate, it must be poured up immediately after the impression is taken as it distorts quickly.

The most accurate form of impression taking material is the polyvinyl which does not distort like the alginate.