Crown and bridge are a bread and butter procedure in most general dental offices. I want these procedures to be as predictable as possible; however, each clinical situation presents its own challenges. Different situations require different retraction and hemostasis needs. This is especially true in today’s digital dentistry world where gingival retraction is especially important to obtain clear margins on your scans.
Here at the Dental Advisor, we recently received Take 1 Retraction Paste (Kerr). This retraction paste is available in two viscosities. The Low Viscosity is recommended as an adjunct to your traditional two cord technique. The High Viscosity is recommended in situations where you can use it without the need for a cord. This paste contains 15% aluminum chloride and kaolin clay that provides hemostatis as well as gentle retraction. For further retraction they include retraction caps in the kit as well.
Take 1 Retraction Paste claims are that it is gentle, yet effective retraction and hemostasis in as little as 2 minutes (with a maximum of 10 minutes). They say it is easy to clean up with water and air spray without residue. Both materials can fit in any standard composite gun.
Two viscosities
Low viscosity being injected around model tooth
High viscosity being injected around model tooth
Enclosed retraction caps
High viscosity in standard composite gun
Low viscosity in standard composite gun
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team and our editorial board? – When expressing the low viscosity we were surprised at just how easy it extruded from the gun. It is very easy to extrude and place. – You will have no troubles reaching the distal of tooth #2 with the high viscosity! The additional tip adds a significant amount of length to the compule. – If you have used other retraction caps that were like very dense cotton rolls, you will notice a significant difference with the retraction caps included in this kit. They are very firm and more like a stiff foam material. We can see them firmly compressing that material into the sulcus and adding additional retraction. – We tried a variety of composite guns and the material fit in all of the styles we had with no problem.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for our clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
When doing in-office whitening, having the proper gingival barrier is just as important as having a great whitening material. Nothing sours a patient’s feeling on their whitening treatment more than burnt gingival tissues.
Here at the Dental Advisor, we recently received Armor LC resin-based, light cured, protective gingival barrier (Mavrik Dental Systems Ltd.). What’s unique about this product? It has a foaming component. This is designed to allow a slight expansion into those nooks and crannies at the gingival margin that your barrier might be missing.
Armor LC syringe
Applying Armor LC
Removing Armor LC
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – When it said “foaming” we were expecting something very different. It still comes out of the tip gelatinous, which allowed for easy placement. – The foaming is slight, we could see it as just enough to expand into sulcular areas. – Cured quickly and peeled off easily.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for a possible clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
Bulk fill composite materials make a lot of sense for a busy practice. Being able to place material in 4 -5mm increments saves a practice’s most precious commodity… time. There have been many developments in bulk fill composites to make them more reliable and more esthetic.
We recently received SonicFill™ 3 (Kavo/Kerr) here at the Dental Advisor. The SonicFill line has brought a novel innovation to bulk fill composites, using sonic energy to make the material more flowable on placement. Once the sonic energy is removed from the material it becomes sculptable. The company claims that their latest edition, SonicFill 3, takes performance to the next level with improved adaptation and handling, and easier extrusion during placement. Their material is non-sticky and slump-free. In addition, cavities up to 5mm in depth can be filled in a single increment, without a need for a liner or capping layer. SonicFill 3 contains a nano-scale zirconsil (zirconium oxide + silica oxide) filler system, which provides effective blending, wear resistance, and strength.
Intro kit
Filling model tooth with SonicFill 3 handpiece
Sculpting material after sonic energy removed
SonicFill 3 handpiece
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – Make sure you have a Kavo coupler for the handpiece. It is not included in the intro kit. – The material extrudes at a very nice speed. The intro kit includes practice teeth to help you get used to the speed before using on a patient. – The handpiece was a little more resonant than I was expecting. – The material was very sculptable, as promised. – Fairly opaque for a bulk fill material.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for our clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
There is a lot of debate about pulpotomy medicaments. As clinicians we understand the value of maintaining primary teeth as space holders for permanent teeth, but we also don’t want to expose patients to harsh chemicals if we can avoid it. Fortunately, new materials are being introduced to help with this very issue.
Recently we received TheraCal PT™ (Bisco). As a public health dentist, I am excited about this product. It is a biocompatible, dual-cured, resin-modified calcium silicate designed for pulpotomy treatment, direct and indirect pulp capping, and as a base material. The material maintains tooth vitality by performing as a barrier and protectant of the dental pulpal complex. It is also radiopaque and calcium releasing.
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team and our editorial board? – It is very easy to express. – The size of the dual-barrel syringe may make it difficult to see where you are placing the material in certain areas. – We were surprised how nice and firm the material sets to. It gives a nice firm base for placing restorative materials onto.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for our clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
