No Such Thing as a Minimally Invasive Onlay: Preparing for Success in Cuspal Coverage Restorations

Crown or onlay?

The decision happens before the preparation and getting it wrong can mean placing a crown where an onlay would have worked, or an onlay on a tooth where it was never going to survive.

In this webinar, specialist prosthodontist Josh Sharpling gets into the mechanics behind cuspal coverage and how to make better restorative decisions before treatment begins.

What you’ll learn

Why do teeth actually break?

Rather than focusing on materials alone, Josh will unpack the mechanical forces at play, why teeth flex under load, why thin walls flex more, and when cuspal coverage becomes the solution.

From there, you’ll work through:

• How to decide when a tooth needs cuspal coverage

• Crown vs onlay: what actually determines the right restoration

• Margin location and preparation geometry

• Space requirements for different restorations

• Isolation and adhesive protocol

• Adhesion vs cementation

• Where digital dentistry genuinely improves the workflow and where the manufacturer hype needs a reality check