restorative
case presentation
BULK FILL OPTIONAL
RESTORATIONS
by Todd C. Snyder, DDS
Dentistry keeps evolving with the advent of faster, simplified
placement materials to make the dentist's life easier. The ability to
place a composite restoration quickly and to be more productive
while still providing a quality product is very appealing to most
dentists. There are many options available to practitioners today
for restoring posterior teeth with direct tooth colored restorations.
Some techniques are very time consuming while more recent materials when utilized can offer a significant time savings.
Although traditional placement techniques utilizing 2mm
incremental layering of composite has worked very well it does
have some shortcomings in the amount of time it takes to properly
place numerous increments of composite. Furthermore the risk of
polymerization stress and shrinkage has long been a concern with
risks of post-operative sensitivity, stress fractures at the cavosurface
margins, marginal defects due to polymerization stress and shrink-
94
DECEMBER 2014 » dentaltown.com
age which can ultimately lead to microleakage and failure of a restoration. Depending on the size of the defect and the manufacturer's material you can now utilize bulk fill composites to restore a
cavity preparation of 4mm, or in some cases up to a depth, of 5 mm
with a single increment of composite.
The advent of the bulk fill composite restorative material is
meant to provide the dentist with a simplified, faster application
of materials when compared to traditional composite stratification
of 2mm increments. Not only do the bulk fill composites offer a
convenient time savings, they also boast a decrease in the polymerization stresses on the tooth structure due to modifications of the
composition and type of monomers and polymers in the materials.
There are two different and unique categories for the bulk
fill composite market. Many dentists utilize traditional flowable
composites for lining the proximal boxes and deeper areas of a
http://www.dentaltown.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown December 2014