A Photo-Worthy Composite

Chae spent his first 7 years after dental school at a practice where he saw up to 35 to 40 patients per day. Therefore, when he opened his own practice 14 years ago, he wanted to focus on providing excellent services with great integrity, dedication, and honesty. One thing he started doing almost immediately was taking photographs of every patient for his own reference. "If you do not see your own work," he says, "you cannot improve."

Soon, he started showing the photographs to patients. He captures a pretreatment image at each patient's first visit to help in explaining what he or she needs and answering any questions. Then, he photographs each step of the restorative treatment with an intraoral camera to show to the patient afterward.

"You develop trust with patients that way," Chae says. "I also began posting photographs on Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, and other social media platforms. People started to notice my work, and that opened new avenues for me."

Of course, Chae's use of photography also engenders the highest levels of accountability, so using premium materials that help him provide exceptional dentistry is critical. One such product is Tokuyama's OMNICHROMA^® FLOW, which is marketed as the world's first one-shade flowable composite that can esthetically match every tooth color from A1 to D4 with a single shade of material.

When Chae first tried OMNICHROMA FLOW earlier this year, he had already been using Tokuyama's Estelite Sigma Quick^® for the past 11 years. The first case in which he used OMNICHROMA FLOW was a simple Class I restoration. "The cavity surface was not very large," he says, "so I wanted to see how fast I could restore the tooth without compromising the esthetics and longevity of the restoration. Because I had tried OMNICHROMA in the past, it was not a big surprise to see how well the flowable formulation blended with the tooth. Performing Class II restorations with OMNICHROMA FLOW and larger Class I restorations with stains or discoloration from amalgam by placing OMNICHROMA BLOCKER FLOW followed by OMNICHROMA FLOW has also provided me with great results that blend with the natural tooth structure."

OMNICHROMA FLOW, which utilizes Smart Chromatic Technology, is indicated for all direct restorations in the anterior and posterior regions. It provides high stain resistance and flexural and compressive strength suitable for a wide range of indications while demonstrating low wear and abrasion and low polymerization shrinkage.

"It can be easily placed into preparations because it is a flowable composite," Chae says. "It also has a good working time and can be easily finished and polished, leading to final restorations that look very natural. The high strength was something that I noticed when I adjusted that first restoration. However, the most important property is the material's shade-matching ability, which results in excellent esthetics, even in challenging shade-matching cases."

Beyond contributing to premium esthetics, the shade-matching ability also provides several other benefits to practices. "OMNICHROMA FLOW is very valuable in terms of saving time and money," Chae says. "Having this composite at our disposal can also help decrease the stress involved in trying to produce a final restoration that blends well with the tooth and looks natural. In addition, I no longer need to supply my practice with as many different composite shades to achieve natural-looking restorations. This not only provides our patients with wear-resistant restorations that demonstrate excellent longevity but also has the potential to reduce my inventory and overhead costs. I believe that OMNICHROMA FLOW can achieve that objective."

Indeed, having a material with the same one-shade benefits as OMNICHROMA but in a flowable consistency that is capable of addressing a wider range of restorative needs helps Chae fulfill the goals he set forth when he first opened his practice. "Because my patients never leave our office without seeing before-and-after photos," he says, "it is important that their restorations look as natural as possible as soon as they leave the chair. If a composite is not esthetic enough to show my patients my work, then I cannot use it. Tokuyama has always provided great products, and OMNICHROMA FLOW is no exception."

Key Points

• The world's first one-shade flowable composite that can esthetically match every tooth color from A1 to D4.

• The high polishability, stain resistance, and flexural/compressive strength are suitable for a wide range of indications.

• Increased efficiency for the clinician and the simplification of inventory management save time and money.

• Reduce composite waste, and never run low on composite shades ever again.