NZ Dental Technician REX case studies
NZ Dental Technician REX · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The New Zealand Dental Technician Registration Examination (REX) is the assessment route by which dental technicians trained in New Zealand or overseas demonstrate they meet the standards required to practise as registered dental technicians here. It is aimed at people who have completed a recognised qualification and now need to satisfy the Dental Council of New Zealand that their knowledge and clinical laboratory judgement are current and safe. The NZ Dental Technician REX case studies are 5 cases and about 4,112 words.
1Monolithic zirconia three-unit bridge in a night-grinding patient
A 58-year-old man who grinds his teeth at night is having a three-unit monolithic zirconia fixed partial denture made to replace 36, with 35 and 37 as abutments. The dentist's written prescription asks for 'minimal preparation, feather-edge margins, 0.8 mm occlusal clearance' and 'a 2.5 mm connector because the embrasure is tight'.
830 words, about 4 min2Mandibular cobalt-chromium partial denture with a torus and a casting defect
A 71-year-old woman needs a mandibular cobalt-chromium removable partial denture replacing 35, 36 and 37; 38 is absent, so the saddle is a distal extension. The dentist's prescription requests a lingual bar major connector and acrylic teeth.
835 words, about 4 min3Clear retainers from printed models: fit failure and scan data handling
A 15-year-old has just had fixed appliances removed. The orthodontist emails an intraoral scan of the upper and lower arches and asks for two upper and two lower clear retainers in 1.0 mm PETG, made on printed models with no stone casts.
827 words, about 4 min4Blood-contaminated denture, a cut thumb and a solvent spill at 4:40 pm Friday
At 4:40 pm on a Friday a courier delivers a box containing an upper complete denture for a reline and a silicone bite registration. There is visible blood on the fitting surface of the denture and no disinfection record or declaration from the dental practice.
810 words, about 4 min5An after-hours email, no patient identifiers and a request to take an impression
At 9 pm a dentist emails the laboratory from a personal email account: 'Need a three-unit PFM bridge for the patient I saw today, tooth 46 missing, abutments 45 and 47. Just copy the old one.
810 words, about 4 min