Why small design errors cost so much
A crown that needs adjustment chairside, or a full remake, costs the lab time, material and the clinic's trust. Most of these problems can be caught at the design stage with a consistent check.
The seven mistakes
- Margin line traced on an unclear scan instead of asking for a better one
- Contacts too light or too heavy compared with the lab's standard
- Occlusion checked without a proper bite, causing high spots
- Material thickness below the manufacturer's minimum
- Cement gap not matched to the milling unit, so the crown seats high or loose
- Over-contoured emergence profile, especially on implant crowns
- Anatomy copied from a library tooth without adapting it to the neighbours
How to avoid them
Start with complete scans: preparation, antagonist and bite. Share your lab's contact, occlusion and cement gap settings with your designer once, so every case follows them. Review the design before milling, and ask for revisions when something does not match your standard.
Our guide on preparing scan files explains what to send. See also our crown design service.