The survival of an all-ceramic inlay is substantially influenced by the dentist himself as it is partly determined by the manner in which the tooth is prepared. A university working group has now made new recommendations for preparation for ceramic inlays; these were drawn up on the basis of developments in instruments. The following description shows the individual steps in sequence for shaping a three-surface molar cavity and, using this case example, illustrates how the results of preparation can be optimized without major additional effort.