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Compendium
January 2012,
Volume 33, Issue 1
Published by AEGIS Communications
Materials Continue to Expand Dentistry’s Options
Dentistry has always offered clinicians variety: variety in technique, variety in disciplines, variety in equipment, and variety in materials. Materials especially offer clinicians diverse options, suited to each clinician’s specific style and needs. The field of dental materials continues to expand and improve, with new options arriving with unprecedented speed.
Among the countless improvements that are taking place among materials is that many are becoming more versatile and user-friendly. While this is certainly a benefit to the clinician, it is often a balancing act for manufacturers to produce new materials that are easy to use while not sacrificing physical properties. The hope is that the new material is stronger, more durable, and offers improved esthetics.
Over the years dentistry has seen a number of new products and techniques introduced with much hype but, unfortunately, resulted in significant failures over time. It is the responsibility of clinicians to review the evidence in order to determine if a new material is appropriate for their patients. This is not an easy task given the speed with which these new products are brought to market.
The rapid progress with materials has been ongoing for decades. Since the 1970s, many clinicians have taken to using direct and indirect tooth-colored restorative materials. The idea of using a more esthetic material to achieve functional results appealed to both patients and clinicians. Since then, materials have continued to evolve to become even more esthetically pleasing and user-friendly.
In the area of direct tooth-colored restoratives, the industry is seeing the introduction and continued improvement of nanocomposites, self-etching bonding agents, self-adhesive and bulk-filled flowable composites. For indirect tooth-colored restorations, the advent of new ceramic materials combined with improved cements has enabled dentists to significantly enhance their esthetic results. This, along with the evolution of supportive computer technology, has over time brought the chairside design and milling of complete crowns and multiple-unit ceramic restorations to a high standard. As a result, CAD/CAM scanning and milling systems have become a practical clinical reality for the dental professional to produce chairside restorations.
In the area of implant dentistry, CAD/CAM technology has allowed for the production of high resistance and high-density crowns along with the manufacture of implant abutments and surgical guides. This technology has also enabled the routine production of surgical templates and has helped improve treatment planning.
Simultaneously, continual innovations in esthetic restorative materials have occurred. Monoblock ceramics can now withstand the stress of masticatory function as well as the damage introduced during the milling. The first-generation monoblocks made of feldspathic ceramic material have largely been replaced by reinforced ceramic with silica (feldspar, leucite, and lithium disilicate), nonsilica (alumina and zirconia), and a combination of resin–ceramic-based materials, resulting in a 3-11 fold increase in flexural strength.
The introduction of new materials and techniques that are able to outperform their predecessors promotes creativity and ingenuity in the dental field. Dental equipment companies are constantly attempting to update their technology to accommodate the new and improved materials coming onto the market. As the level of innovation continues, both dental professionals and their patients should only benefit.
As guest editor of this special thematic issue of Compendium, I hope you have enjoyed the content, which has focused on a variety of innovations in dental materials. We have tried to make this issue on materials as informative as possible. The continuing education (CE) articles on adhesives and cements offer instruction on total-etch technique and selecting the proper cement for sufficient bond strength, respectively. Our series of review articles explore recent advances in direct resins, zirconia, lithium disilicate, provisional materials, and CAD/CAM restorations. I want to acknowledge and thank the authors who have given their time and expertise so that we can all improve our practice of dentistry.
About the Author
Gerard Kugel, DMD, MS, PhD
Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Prosthodontics and Operative Dentistry
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
Boston, Massachusetts
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