Therapeutic Flowable Offers Strength and Esthetics

In the 17 years that I have spent as a practicing general dentist, I have probably tried upward of 50 different restorative materials, and I have come to several conclusions. When the preparation is close to the pulp, I feel compelled to use a glass-ionomer restorative material. However, when I use a glass ionomer, the restoration isn't glossy or easy to polish, and no matter how hard that I try, I still occasionally see a little brown line along the margin of one of my bonded composite restorations a few years later. Flowable materials are great at filling voids, but many quickly wear down and look ugly in radiographs. The upside of flowable materials is that they are so amazingly polishable, but many are too flowable, giving me very little control over the material after I extrude it from a syringe. During a normal workday, restorative dentists encounter quite a few stressors, but for me, bonded composite restorations, especially class II and esthetic zone composite restorations, are the source of the greatest stress.

A few years ago, while attending a continuing education course in Chicago, Illinois, I learned about something called Giomer Technology. The name sounded a little peculiar, but it had the promise to relieve several of the "bonded composite stressors" that were making my restorative life difficult. It possesses fluoride and several other slow-release ions that are thought to reduce the chances of sensitivity and pulpal breakdown. That alone prompted me to try it, at least as a liner over deep cavity preparations. Since I began using Giomer restoratives, more specifically Beautifil Flow Plus^® X, my experience has led me to decide that they are my go-to restorative materials. Beautifil Flow Plus X is highly radiopaque, which allows me to feel good about myself when I examine later radiographs, and it is the most polishable restorative material that I have ever used, producing beautiful results in the esthetic zone. After a few years, even among patients who have poor hygiene habits, I rarely see a brown line along the margin. In addition, despite being a flowable material, Beautifil Flow Plus X actually offers excellent handling characteristics. It stacks as it oozes out of the syringe and can be sculpted.