What is a wax up? Is it important ?

[Teflondon95]

What is the meaning of a wax up in dental school? How come roseman doesn’t make students do wax up anymore? Is this bad for potential students ?

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[Racquetball3r]

A wax up can refer to a lot of different things. Typically it is building up a missing tooth/teeth or part of a tooth using wax. Wax ups are used for various reasons ranging from a teaching tool, to a diagnostic tool, to part of the process in fabricating crowns. Diagnostic wax ups help a dentist identify restorative or esthetic issues before they begin a case in vivo.

In the opinion of a former dental lab tech and current dental student, learning to wax is extremely important. There is nothing else that teaches tooth anatomy and occlusion like waxing teeth. In my humble opinion schools that don't have students wax teeth are doing them a major disservice. You will eventually be building up teeth with composite and amalgam which tend to be much less forgiving than wax. Wax is a great place to start to learn how to shape teeth.

 

[DOC YANKEM]

Wax up's are the most time and cost efficient method in learning Dental Anatomy. They are easier to manipulate and polish than composite and amalgams. At first, I thought Wax Up's were a complete waste of time in dental lab but later I realized that the skills and techniques transferred over in following months.

 

[Vicviper]

Wax up's are the most time and cost efficient method in learning Dental Anatomy. They are easier to manipulate and polish than composite and amalgams. At first, I thought Wax Up's were a complete waste of time in dental lab but later I realized that the skills and techniques transferred over in following months.

Agreed, I initially thought they were a total waste, but they can really help you develop your handskills. Will they make you into a worse dentist if you don't learn how to do them? That's hard to say. Now that I'm in practice, I wax something up maybe 1-2 times a year.