How to Take a Better Impression for a Crown: Top 5 Lab Pet Peeves

Most crown remakes don't start in the lab, they start in the operatory. The cleaner the impression or scan that arrives at the lab, the cleaner the crown that arrives back at your office. Here are the five things lab technicians see most often that turn into adjustments, remakes, or frustrated phone calls.

1. The margin you can't actually see

By far the most common issue. Whether the impression is PVS or digital, if the margin isn't clearly captured all the way around the prep, the lab is guessing. Solutions: pack retraction cord properly (one or two cord technique), get hemostasis under control before impressing, and confirm the margin is visible in your scanner software before you hit send.

2. A bite that doesn't match the prep

Cases arrive routinely where the prep is clear but the bite registration shows the patient in a protruded or lateral position, not MIP. The lab articulates to the bite you sent, so if it's wrong, the occlusion comes back wrong. Take the bite with the patient relaxed and biting on their back teeth, not following your instructions to "bite hard."

3. Missing adjacents

We need at least one tooth on either side of the prep to design proper contacts. Full-quadrant scans are better. Single-tooth scans with nothing adjacent force the technician to guess at contact tightness and contour, which means more chairside adjustment for you.

4. Shade information that arrives later (or not at all)

Especially for anterior cases. The lab is starting design the day the case arrives, if shade and shade-mapping photos show up two days later, we're behind. Send shade, stump shade, and at least one photo with a shade tab in frame, at the same time as the impression.

5. No prescription details

Rx slips that just say "crown" with no material specified, no occlusal scheme notes, and no contact preferences force the lab to call your office to clarify. Every minute spent waiting on a callback is a minute we're not producing. The more specific the Rx, the faster the case ships.

The 30-second case review habit

Before any case leaves the office, take 30 seconds to confirm: margin is captured, bite is in MIP, adjacents are included, shade is documented, Rx is filled out. That habit alone cuts remakes more than any equipment upgrade.

Want a printable checklist to keep at the operatory? Call us at (508) 281-9997 or email info@vdldental.com and we'll send one over.