The common problem at the interproximal area is that sometimes there will be an enamel mound or a mountain shaped enamel here. This clearly indicates that the operator is very afraid to lower down the margins thinking that he may nick the adjacent tooth’s surface along the way. The margins in this area should be continuous with the buccal and lingual margins, and about 0.5 to 1mm above the gingival margin.

When looking at the buccal aspect, there should be an obvious clearance of the interproximal margins from the adjacent tooth.

ERRORS

Improper use of the needle bur to break the contacts.

Using the shoulder bur on the get go to break the contacts and lowering the margins but was unsuccessful.

PREVENTION

To prevent this from happening, the approach here is to get to know how to use the needle bur effectively.

First, use your needle bur to break the contact. Your focus here is to create a very wide clearance just to accommodate your shoulder bur. In this way, you will less likely nick the adjacent tooth and will have you more focused on making a beautiful margin.

When using a needle bur, do not make margins on the get go because a needle bur naturally cannot make a margin.

TROUBLESHOOTING

When in an instance you had created a margin but still the clearance is not enough because the margins are high, use your needle bur to reduce the outer parts of the margins just to create a wide clearance. Do not worry if your margins will be messy. But once you had created a very wide clearance, you can redo making the margin.