Temporary restorations play an important role in the fabrication of fixed prostheses. Whilst for dentists the focus is firmly on protecting the prepared teeth and ensuring good fracture-resistant strength, patients increasingly expect temporary restorations to satisfy aesthetic demands and to also have a surface quality that is pleasant to the touch. Voco has developed an enhanced self-curing composite for the fabrication of crowns and bridges.
Clinical application
Anterior trauma suffered by a 57-yearold patient caused the ceramic veneer of her bridge to fracture extensively in several places in the region 13 to 23 (upper canine to upper canine). It was initially restored directly with a composite after the accident (fig 1).
Prior to fabrication of the new restoration, an alginate impression was taken, which serves as the negative mould for the Structur 3 restoration after removal of the bridge and postpreparation. In the past, when making temporary restorations from less resilient materials, our dental practice used to take silicone impressions for the fabrication of the temporary crowns and bridges. These impressions were kept for later use in repair or refabrication in the all-too-frequent event of damage. Since switching to Structur 3, this is no longer necessary, based on our good experience with this material.
Figure 2 shows the prepared stumps. The alginate impression filled with Structur 3 is reinserted (fig 3). After 45 seconds of intraoral curing, the material is still slightly elastic and can be easily removed from the stumps (fig 4). Four minutes after the start of mixing, the temporary restoration has cured sufficiently to be finished. The inhibition layer is wiped away with a cloth soaked in alcohol, and a lustrous shine is already visible (fig 5).
The bulk of the excess material can be removed with crown scissors and rotary instruments. Interdental finishing is important for ensuring that the temporary restoration can be kept hygienic. After rough finishing, the fit is checked intraorally (fig 6).
The result after polishing the nanohybrid surface, preceded by finishing with rotary instruments, is indeed both highly aesthetic and functional and, at the same time, the finishing time has also been noticeably reduced (fig 7). The smooth Structur 3 surface was particularly pleasant to the touch for the patient, who can now smile and eat without any worries with this temporary bridge (fig 8).
Conclusion
Thanks to nano-hybrid technology, Structur 3 from Voco puts in a ‘shining’ performance in the criteria of handling, aesthetics and durability of self-curing composites. I am able to produce highquality and aesthetic restorations which feel good in the patient’s mouth and are also extremely durable – as well as taking less time. This is a reason for both the patient and dentist to smile.
References available on request.