Reliable Cementation for All Indirect Restorations
BISCO’s TheraCem® offers simplicity and strength through superior chemistry
Don't even think of asking Thomas Dudney, DMD, about retirement. It's the furthest thing from the mind of this dental industry veteran who has been practicing out of the same office in Alabaster, Alabama, 20 miles south of Birmingham, since 1980. Today, this graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry likes to focus on big rehabilitative cases and esthetics. "I'm not getting tired of anything," Dudney says. "I'm enjoying practicing now more than ever before because I'm pretty much doing what I like to do. Moreover, I feel that my dentistry is as good as it's ever been."
Dudney and his associate share a passion for providing the very best care, and that includes not only performing state-of-the art clinical treatments but also making sure that each patient's experience is good as well. "How the team treats people is important," Dudney says. "We want to be friendly; we want to be welcoming; and we want to be able to provide the kind of care that will last our patients a long time." Another of Dudney's values is the importance that he places on sharing his decades of clinical expertise with other practitioners, which is why he can often be found on the lecture circuit. Among his courses is one that he calls "MACdentistry." MAC stands for materials, adhesives, and cements.
One of the cements that Dudney is particularly fond of is BISCO's TheraCem®, which he has used in his clinical practice since its debut in 2017. It's a self-adhesive, dual-cure resin cement that is indicated for luting crowns, bridges, inlays, onlays, and posts. It can be used in any situation in the mouth, but Dudney notes that it is particularly useful in areas where achieving a complete light cure is problematic. TheraCem contains MDP, so it is especially suited for cementing zirconia, which is Dudney's material of choice for most of the indirect restorations that he places. Other benefits of the product that he mentions include its ease of use and cost-effectiveness and, importantly, its chemistry. "I like the chemistry of TheraCem because it includes an MDP monomer that gives it an affinity for zirconia but also because it releases calcium and fluoride," Dudney says. TheraCem's continuous release of calcium and fluoride ions confers protective benefits to the restoration and the tooth and also increases the pH.* "After just a few minutes, it goes from acidic to alkaline, which is a good thing because any form acidity is always bad in the mouth," Dudney says.
The self-adhesive nature of TheraCem means that, in most cases, the material bonds to both the tooth structure and the restoration without the clinician having to treat either with a bonding agent. If it's a non-retentive situation that requires increased bond strength, then Dudney reaches for a primer like Z-Prime™ Plus and an adhesive like All-Bond Universal®, both of which are also available from BISCO. But in most of Dudney's cases, TheraCem stands on its own. "If you've got a fairly retentive preparation, you don't need to treat the tooth or the restoration," he says. "You just rinse and dry the tooth and rinse and dry the restoration."
According to Dudney, other advantages of using TheraCem include its radiopacity, which prevents it from being mistaken for recurrent decay on radiographs, and its high conversion rate, which gives it more strength. "It's a stronger and more durable type of cement because of this high conversion rate," he says. "It also has a low film thickness, which makes it easy to seat restorations without the need to apply a lot of pressure." Another plus, Dudney notes, is ease of cleanup. "After TheraCem sets into a gel state, it just peels off in one piece very easily, so that's another thing that I like a lot about it," he says.
Regarding the company behind this technology, Dudney has worked with BISCO for years and has met the company's principals. "They're a phenomenal company," he says. "They have great products, and I absolutely love their adhesive cements. I've been to their facility a couple of times and toured it. I'm speaking from experience when I tell you that their research and development department is working hard all the time. They have spent years and years developing products and perfecting them, and I've seen it myself firsthand."
Dudney emphasizes that one of the major advantages of working with BISCO is that the company manufactures all of its products in-house and ships direct, which brings up another thing that he appreciates about BISCO products and TheraCem in particular: cost-effectiveness. "Remember, there are many ways to cut costs, and one of them is saving time," Dudney says. "I'm a big fan of any product that can save you time. From my experience, TheraCem is simpler, faster, easier to use, and easier to clean up than many other cements. Regardless of the price that you pay, saving time increases your cost benefit. I think that's just another way to look at it."
In the end, the most important factor for Dudney is the superior results that he gets with TheraCem. After all, you can have the most beautiful restoration in the world, but if it comes off, it can be costly in terms of money and time, and of course frustration, for everyone involved. "I have great confidence in TheraCem," Dudney says. "It's a nice feeling to know that my crowns are going to stay where I put them."
Key Points
• A self-adhesive, dual-cure resin cement indicated for luting crowns, bridges, inlays, onlays, and posts.
• Continuously releases calcium and fluoride and transitions from an acidic to an alkaline pH in minutes.*
• Contains MDP, allowing for a strong bond to zirconia, metal, and alumina substrates without the use of a primer.
• Specially formulated to permit easy identification on radiographs and allow for quick and easy cleanup.
* Data on file. BISCO Inc.
BISCO, Inc. | bisco.com | 800-247-3368
