Wax-up and mock-up. A guide for anterior periodontal and restorative treatments.

When starting a case, having the end result in mind is the basis in any kind of treatment, even more so in those where the anterior teeth morphology, size and proportion will be changed. Here is where a good treatment plan based on a diagnostic wax-up that is tried in with a mock-up and approved by the patient becomes crucial. This case report exemplifies how transferring the information from the diagnostic wax up to the patient's mouth is of help not only to the restorative dentist and the laboratory technician, but also to the surgeon when performing the crown lengthening. This treatment plan cannot be seen as a sequence of isolated procedures but as a single workflow. The wax-up/mock-up binomial is a guide even for the periodontist in a novel approach to surgical crown lengthening.