Beautifil II Gingiva System: A Chairside Solution to “the Absence of Pink”
With 42 years of clinical experience, Frank Milnar, DDS, AAACD, has witnessed how technological advancements in dental materials combined with better understanding of biomechanics of dental tissues have stimulated the formulation of biointegrative materials with improved properties, making it possible for clinicians to conservatively re-establish esthetics of fractured teeth and correct the appearance directly, in the operatory.
“The physical properties of today's composite materials surpass anything we used in the '70s, '80s, or '90s. The optical anisotrophy, esthetics, handling capabilities, strength, and shrinkage—all of these attributes are getting better and better,” Milnar says.
Despite the breakthroughs in dental resin materials, enamel-colored composites are often being used on cervical areas or to restore dark triangles. “The esthetics of the smile,” Milnar emphasizes, “include both
pink and white architecture (ie, gingiva and tooth structure, respectively), which complement each other, and should be in harmony in terms of color, texture, shape, and finish.”
A self-proclaimed artist at heart and inquisitive practitioner, Milnar started his quest for a direct alternative that would better emulate the gingiva and seamlessly achieve a balance between a restoration, the teeth, and adjacent soft tissue. His search led him to Beautifil II Gingiva (Shofu Dental), a new dental material intended for applications in the cervical area, specifically for the esthetic correction of gingival recession, wedge-shaped defects, exposed cervical areas, splinting, and re-balancing of pink esthetics. Available in five gingival colors, these resin composites can be blended together and layered to produce custom shades to address a patient's specific clinical needs.
Milnar explicates the complexity of creating a successful pink restoration: “Because the artificial gingiva is placed in the cervical area of the tooth, next to the tissue that could be biologically invaded, the material must be able to biointegrate subgingivally. Also, since the masticatory forces distribute stress from the crown of the tooth laterally into the body of the tooth, and then vertically down the long axis at the root, the stresses tend to accumulate in the area of the root surface, posing more challenges to the survival of an artificial-gingiva restoration.”
Beautifil II Gingiva composites are highly filled, demonstrate excellent flexural and compressive strength, maintain optimal color stability before and after curing, and exhibit high luster. Incorporating the proprietary Giomer chemistry, which facilitates release and recharge of fluoride, strontium, and other beneficial ions, restorations created with Beautifil II Gingiva are reversible and can be cost-effectively repaired.
Milnar notes that when a white composite or tooth-colored resin is applied to teeth present with gingival recession, the resulting restoration creates the perception of elongated teeth, leading to an unbalanced appearance. Beautifil II Gingiva modules not only combat this problem, but they do it in a minimally invasive manner. “So, the clinicians do not have to amputate tooth structure or sacrifice the tooth at the altar of crown preparation to solve an esthetic dilemma,” he remarks.
He also recommends that clinicians use the correct instrumentation to transfer and place gingiva-colored composites, and to properly finish and polish them with tools that complement the intricate design of the pink restorations. “Shofu,” he specifies, “offers such instruments.” One is the Pink Preparation Kit. The other is the Artistic Composite Kit, both of which he developed and are concomitant with his artistic restoration concept, which focuses on creating restorations that mimic nature in both a functional and esthetic fashion.
“Cervical lesions and gingival recession present major challenges to patients and dentists,” Milnar asserts. “Most of the population displays some form of these issues. A general practitioner can either refer a patient to a periodontist for surgery, which involves flaps, grafting, and other aggressive, painful and time-consuming procedures, or, with the development of gingiva-colored restorative materials, clinicians can now apply pink composites directly to these crevices to create a balanced appearance,” he concludes.
Shofu Dental Corp.
1225 Stone Dr
San Marcos, CA 92078
800-827-4638
shofu.com
