CDT case studies

CDT · Put your knowledge to work in context.

The Certified Dental Technician (CDT) credential is awarded by the National Board for Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology (NBC), which describes itself as "the independent board founded by the National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL)." It is aimed at dental laboratory technicians who want to demonstrate "significant mastery of the knowledge and applied skills needed in dental technology" - a benchmark dentists and labs can check through NBC's public CDT directory. NBC also issues the CDL (certified dental laboratory) and RG (recognized graduate) credentials, and its examination program covers all three. The CDT case studies are 5 cases and about 2,908 words.

The mandibular denture that floats: two implants or a remake?

72-year-old woman, edentulous 8 years, presents with 3-month-old maxillary and mandibular complete dentures. She reports that the mandibular denture "floats" during speech and that she cannot chew meat.

637 words, about 3 min 2

Kennedy Class II modification 1 with a borderline terminal abutment

55-year-old man requests a new mandibular removable partial denture; his previous two fractured. He is missing 36, 37 and 46 (Kennedy Class II, modification 1).

566 words, about 3 min 3

Subgingival fracture on a root-filled premolar

48-year-old woman presents with tooth 14 (maxillary first premolar). It had root canal treatment 6 years ago and now has a 2 mm buccal cusp fracture that extends 1 mm subgingivally.

589 words, about 3 min 4

Conservative preparation for a highly visible central incisor

32-year-old man requests replacement of a maxillary right central incisor crown (tooth 8). The existing PFM crown shows a grey cervical line at the free gingival margin.

570 words, about 3 min 5

Class III in a growing adolescent whose mother wants to wait

14-year-old girl in late mixed dentition with a Class III skeletal pattern: ANB −2°, Wits −4 mm, mandibular plane 32°, upper incisors retroclined at 95°, lower incisors at 88°, 2 mm anterior crossbite and 3 mm negative overjet. She has 4 mm of upper crowding and 2 mm of lower crowding, and the second molars are erupting.

546 words, about 3 min