Discovering the benefits of the vertical preparation of teeth is a voyage in time where one observes that again and again the more modern teachings are not necessarily closer to the truth. 

Of the many mysteries of History, we can be sure that the first person who thought of crowning a tooth did not dream of chamfers and shoulders. He, or she, could well be part of the Etruscan population - the pre-Roman, pre-Pasquale Venuti, and, above all, pre-Procera inhabitants of Italy.

Vertical preparation is a reminder that we dentists are often taught techniques, many of them counter-intuitive, presented as the peak of our Progress, frequently pushed by the industry, only to realise later we used to know better. Failures and frustrations are justified by not properly following the protocol, or just ignored, and old style solutions are under rated and considered outdated.

But one cannot ignore what one sees before one's eyes. And I am yet to see a dentist unimpressed with the chamfer-less approach. The advantage we have over the Etruscans though is the possibility of using tooth-coloured materials for this, such as zirconia, lithium dissilicate and feldspathic, thus being able to offer our patients aesthetic, long lasting, conservative and tissue friendly restorations.

There are some challenges in embracing any technique and we hope to shed some light in overcoming them. We thought of a course that would make our students understand the ideas behind verti prep and be successful at implementing it in the following work day without much effort. To help us with that, we are delighted to have with us 7 of the most experienced clinicians and technicians on the vertical preparation concept: Pasquale Venuti, Raul Costa, Miguel Fraga Silva, Hugo Costa Lapa, Luís Oliveira, Luís Afonso and Jorge André Cardoso.

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