Objective: To describe a novel technique that helps the clinician on promoting a midline diastema closure with appropriate width proportions based on previous wax up, avoiding excesses of the resin material on the gingival area, which could lead to possible inflammation.
Materials and methods: Two different silicone indexes were made over a wax up to perform a diastema closure.
Results: The use of a silicone index made with putty polyvinyl siloxane (PVS) material and another index made with putty and light PVS materials performed over a modified wax up, helped on achieving esthetically pleasant diastema closure with appropriate proportional widths, respecting the gingival tissue.
Conclusions: The use of a novel silicone index technique allowed for ensuring the same width for both upper central incisors in a midline diastema closure, improving gingival tissue's health.
Clinical significance: The main difficulties regarding diastema closure are related to reaching an appropriate width proportion of the central incisors and avoiding a ledge at the gingival aspect of the contact area, which could become a plaque and food trap. This article describes, step-by-step, how to avoid such diastema closure issues, ensuring the width proportions of the upper central incisors.
Keywords: composite resin; midline diastema closure; silicone index.
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.