Medicine >> Other

Gold Tooth Inlay: Possible Cavity Shapes

by Cy Scott

 

Submitted : Fall 2013


Making a cavity in a tooth for a gold inlay involves cutting a space in the tooth that allows a wax molding to be poured in and then pulled out without breaking the hardened wax. The hardened wax cast of the cavity can be used to create a gold inlay that will be inserted into the cavity by reversing the motion used to pull the wax molding out of the cavity. When a wax molding can be easily pulled from a cavity it is called a good occlusal draw. Occlusal refers to the top surface of the tooth. Conventional dentistry states that the walls for the cavity produced for a gold inlay must have nearly vertical walls for a good occlusal draw (with the opening for the cavity larger than the seat); however, Gary Hosler Meisters proves with vector algebra that this is not always true and that some of the walls can converge on the opening of the cavity and still produce a good occlusal draw.


Related Links:

 


 

[ Back ]

Advisors :
Brian Curtin, Mathematics and Statistics
Noureddine Elmehraz, Computer Science & Engineering
Suggested By :
Noureddine Elmehraz