One Composite for All Shades

Doug Lambert, DDS, on Tokuyama Dental’s OMNICHROMA®

Challenges come in various shapes and sizes and occur in all aspects of life. Dentistry has its share as well, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), patients, staffing, practice economics, material selection, and treatment outcomes to name a few. During my 35 years in private practice, I have had the opportunity to experience a multitude of amazing advances in our profession that have enhanced patient care and dental health. When not practicing or lecturing, I have been fortunate to be able to offer assistance to many dental manufacturers in their development of products and techniques, including those related to one of the topics that I am most passionate about-direct composite resins.

Composites are utilized daily by many clinicians and have become a mainstay because of their ability to provide a conservative and cost-effective solution for both the anterior and posterior dentition. However, as I present continuing education courses around the country, the one particular concern related to direct composites that seems to continually resurface is their ability to match the shade and have the restoration blend into the existing natural tooth structure.

At one point or another, the ability to mimic nature (ie, enamel and dentin) with a direct restoration has presented a challenge to many of us. There are a significant number of variables that play a role in creating a lifelike final result, including the chroma, hue, and value of the tooth itself as well as the size of the restoration, layering approach, formulation of the material, particle size, texturing, finishing and polishing, and others. The shade guides included in many composite kits only offer modest assistance in shade selection because many are not created from the actual composite material. This can truly affect the clinician's ability to gauge the final outcome. Fortunately, there is a new composite available that does not need a shade guide because it derives its final color from the surrounding tooth structure.

OMNICHROMA^® is the world's first universal composite that can esthetically match the tooth shade of nearly every patient with a single shade. Its uniformly sized supra-nano spherical fillers (ie, 260 nm spherical SiO2-ZrO2) allow OMNICHROMA to match every one of the 16 VITA classical shades (ie, A1 to D4) using a science the company has termed Smart Chromatic Technology.

I have found OMNICHROMA to be amazingly esthetic for my Class III and Class V restorations as well as for restoring my implant crown screw access channels in combination with OMNICHROMA BLOCKER, which prevents the metal screw from showing. OMNICHROMA has not only enhanced my patients' results but also, in many cases, allowed me to be more efficient chairside because I do not have to use treatment time for shade analysis. Ultimately, it improves my bottom line.

Key Takeaways

1. Unprecedented shade-matching ability and esthetics

2. Exceptional handling, polishability, and strength

3. Eliminates the need for an entire inventory of composite shades

4. Minimizes chairtime and reliance on shade-matching procedures

About the Author

Doug Lambert, DDS
Private Practice
Edina, Minnesota

Manufacturer Information

Tokuyama Dental America, Inc.
tokuyama-us.com
877-378-3548