Measured diagram
How much of a worn tooth is cut to rebuild it with composite?
A close-up of the worn edge of the front tooth in the stages figure, with a 1 mm scale. The bevel stays in the enamel, and the rest of the tooth's shape is added in composite.
What the drawing is measured from
- European consensus on severe tooth wear: wear is severe once at least a third of the clinical crown has been lost; with no complaints, patients are monitored first; preparation is limited to what is necessary, such as seats, bevels or chamfers; and restorations change the rate, location and nature of wear rather than prevent it. DOI 1
- Direct composite for severe wear: 34 patients and 1,269 restorations followed for a mean of 62.4 months, with annual failure rates of at most 2.2% in front teeth and 2.9% in back teeth; molars needed the most maintenance. DOI 2
- The teeth are the measured upper central incisor and lower first molar used in every figure on this site. How deep each worn surface, hollow and notch is drawn is representative, not a measurement of one patient.
Use this diagram
Free to use, including commercially, with credit.
This diagram is published under CC BY 4.0. You may reproduce it in articles, teaching material, presentations and patient information, print or online, without asking. The one condition is that you credit Dr. Khalid Aletaibi and link back to this page.
It is published this way on purpose. The measurement in this drawing is not something the people selling the treatment tend to publish, so it is more useful spread than kept.
Credit line
A short bevel blends the composite in. Dr. Khalid Aletaibi, CC BY 4.0. https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/tooth-wear-bevel
HTML embed
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<img src="https://khalidaletaibi.com/figures/tooth-wear-bevel-en.svg" alt="A short bevel blends the composite in" width="100%">
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A short bevel blends the composite in. <a href="https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/tooth-wear-bevel">Dr. Khalid Aletaibi</a>,
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>
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