Abutment Taper of Full Cast Crown Preparations by Dental Students in the UWI School of Dentistry.

Abstract - 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 20.3 ± 11.3 degrees mesio-distally and 18.3 ±8.5 degrees bucco-lingually. This study shows that the taper achieved by dental students at the UWI School of Dentistry preparing teeth for full veneer crowns is comparable to those achieved by other dental students in the US, UK, Europe and Japan.

KEY WORDS: Taper, Co-ordinates, Metrology, Crowns, Teaching