Preformed metal crowns placed using the Hall Technique

Placing preformed metal crowns using the Hall Technique is becoming a popular restorative technique due to the growing evidence of its long term success over other conventional restorations.¹ An increasing number of newly qualified dentists and dental therapists are being taught this technique during their undergraduate training but it is not widely taught to dental nurses as they work towards registration. This paper aims to give you an overview of the Hall Technique and highlight the role and responsibilities of the dental nurse during the procedure as summarised in the table opposite.

The Hall Technique was developed by Dr Norna Hall, a general dental practitioner from Scotland, as a way of restoring carious primary teeth. It involves cementing a preformed metal crown over a carious primary molar without any local anaesthetic, caries removal or tooth preparation.² Restoring teeth using the Hall Technique requires a similar time to conventional restorations³ and children often find a less invasive procedure easier than the conventional method of complete caries removal and placement of a restoration.⁴ It has been shown to be a widely accepted technique with clinicians, children and guardians due to the advantages of it being a more comfortable procedure than conventional restorations and the lack of need for local anaesthetic or tooth preparation during the procedure.³,⁵,⁶ Randomised Control Trials show the Hall Technique to be a predictable restorative option in primary carious molars which significantly outperforms general dental practice standard restorations and has a low failure rate.¹,³,⁷ Its success is based on following the biological approach to caries management which works on the theory that caries does not progress once isolated from the biofilm in the mouth.⁸