Take your restorative dentistry practice to the next level.

With every dental restoration, you balance many factors: the size of the restoration, the colour and translucency of the patient’s teeth, the patient’s desire for esthetics, and your practice’s productivity. At the same time, patients and practitioners alike are more motivated than ever to limit the unnecessary removal of healthy tooth structure. In every case, one factor remains constant: careful material selection and attention to detail pay off.

Dark spots under a new restoration aren’t just an esthetic problem: down the road, they can make other practitioners suspect secondary caries. Don’t risk patient satisfaction and unnecessary rework: block out dark dentition every time with 3M™ Filtek™ Universal Restorative, Pink Opaquer.

In 2011, 3M introduced the first universal adhesive to simplify adhesive application and give you greater confidence in bond reliability. Today, there are more options than ever – but choosing the right adhesive doesn’t have to be complicated.

How can you trust a new adhesive or predict how it will perform in the future? By looking at its evolution. Our clinically proven original formulation, 3M™ Scotchbond™ Universal Adhesive, was the industry’s first truly universal adhesive. It has also become the most researched, with 5+ years of published clinical studies and 400+ peer-reviewed scientific publications: Read the clinical booklet (PDF 1.7 MB)

Now, Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive offers all the benefits of its predecessor – with new levels of control and predictability.

Whether you are placing incrementally in the anterior or bulk filling in the posterior, finding the right balance of esthetics and efficiency is important. Innovations such as true nanotechnology, low-stress monomers and composite warming can help you create restorations that look and wear more like natural teeth.

Warmed composites are more fluid, enabling easier handling and requiring lower extrusion force when dispensing. Warming may also improve adaptation to the tooth structure, resulting in fewer voids and gaps. 3M has conducted extensive testing to ensure that our composites are both safe and effective when warmed. Download the flyer (PDF, 1.03 MB) to learn more about warming Filtek dental restoratives.

Every step is important to ensure lasting restorations, but perhaps no single step is as critical as light curing. If your light isn’t calibrated or functioning properly, you could be under-curing or over-curing without realising it. A high-performance light, routine monitoring and a curing light checklist can help you achieve a consistent cure – and avoid costly rework.

Every brand and shade of material requires a specific dose of blue light in order to polymerise – which means a major portion of your restorative business depends on your curing light’s performance and calibration.

Start with a free Bluelight CheckMARC Curing Light Test: a 3M representative will visit your clinic to test your light in clinically relevant scenarios and help optimise your protocols.

Natural-looking anatomical shapes and a high-gloss polish: the most time-consuming parts of the direct procedure can be the most critical for long-term esthetic results. Fine-tune your technique and use a streamlined system to make your restorations blend invisibly with the surrounding dentition – and help ensure long-lasting results your patients will love.

Tips for long-term colour stability
 

• Smooth surfaces are less likely to attract biofilm*
• Use the right speed and pressure for your handpiece – too much can remove the anatomy you’re trying to create

Tips for maximising composite esthetics
 

• Choose a true nanocomposite for natural-looking result and polish retention
• Ensure a proper light cure