Anna Blake

As a practitioner in rural Pennsylvania running a dual-purpose dental practice that offers both comprehensive cosmetic dentistry and general dentistry, it’s imperative that Dr. Zach Sisler has a reliable product on hand that he can use for all cases. And while he learned an assortment of different cleaning techniques for restorations while in dental school at West Virginia University, he’s found that in the 10 years since graduating, he reaches for one cleansing product exclusively, Ivoclar Vivadent’s Ivoclean.

	Dr. Sisler actually uses a range of Ivoclar Vivadent products because he knows he can rely on them to provide predictable results that are esthetically pleasing. However, for him, Ivoclean in particular is unmatched and irreplaceable in his practice.

	“I graduated in 2010, and that’s kind of when zirconia crowns and all porcelain restorations were really hitting great stride and taking a competitive share of the marketplace, and that’s when Ivoclar really got on my radar,” he says. “The Ivoclar products were new to me as I was coming out of school, however, they were kind of the latest and the greatest, so that’s what we started using and we kind of haven’t turned back since.”

	Ivoclean, a universal cleaning paste used to clean the surface of a restoration after it’s been tried in the mouth and contaminated with saliva, is one product Dr. Sisler uses on a daily basis.

	Born out of initial issues with the bonding of zirconia and porcelain restorations that resulted in loose or lost restorations, Ivoclean was created when researchers figured out the try-in phase of the procedure was what created a contaminated environment. This contamination could later compromise the bond and hold of a restoration. Today, Dr. Sisler believes the results have yet to be matched with the same ease and simplicity offered by Ivoclean. 

	“Any time I put a single unit crown in all the way up to a full mouth rehabilitation, we’re using Ivoclean on the ceramics prior to going in the mouth,” he says. “That’s why we really like Ivoclar products, they make it all very systematic and their products really work well with one another. I can use Ivoclean for a simple, single crown that I’m doing on a general dentistry patient, all the way up to a 28-unit full mouth rehab that we’re doing on a specialty patient. It makes it simple for my staff and for my team to be able to know the product we’re using and the system that’s involved with that,” Dr. Sisler says.

	Regardless of the brand or type of dental cement he’s using, Dr. Sisler always uses Ivoclean to prepare the restoration surface. For him, the beauty of this product is that after he’s tried a restoration in the mouth and it’s been contaminated he can easily place Ivoclean and it does its job of cleaning the surface by drawing the phosphates from saliva out of the restoration and into the product itself. In turn, this process creates an ideal surface for the cement to engage the crown as well as adhere to the tooth. 

	“Honestly, I don’t use anything else and I wouldn’t. I can’t even think of any ways I could suggest to make it better, it’s just that good. They make it so easy and user-friendly I don’t have any need to change what I’m using or ever switch to a different product,” Dr. Sisler says. “I’m putting this in the crown, I’m letting it sit for 20 seconds, then rinse and I’m done, compared to using something like acid etch gels in order to get the same results.” 

	Next to its consistent and dependable results, ease of use is one of the major draws to this Ivoclar Vivadent product for many practitioners. There’s no mess or rigorous clean-up with Ivoclean, just place, agitate, and rinse. For Dr. Sisler, the time and effort saved thanks to that ease is the key to its success and following within the dental community.

	“I just like this because it’s simple to use and it’s quick,” he says. “You have to clean the inside of the restoration out regardless, and I know there are other cleansing agents coming on the market trying to replicate Ivoclar’s product, but it’s going to take a lot for dentists to relinquish the predictability they’re getting with Ivoclean.

	Ivoclean is a universal cleaning paste designed to effectively clean the bonding surfaces of prosthetic restorations after intraoral try-in, creating optimum pre-requisites for the adhesive luting procedure. It’s designed to perform its action on all dental restorative materials, such as glass, zirconium oxide, and aluminum oxide ceramics. Ivoclean is said to be easy to apply to the bonding surface, and reacts for 20 seconds.

Articles

Ivoclean from Ivoclar Vivadent decontaminates bonding surfaces after intraoral try-in

A universal cleaning paste suitable for all materials

As a dental practitioner for more than 25 years, and an expert on restorative and esthetic dentistry, Dr. Troy Schmedding has been using Kuraray Noritake products over much of his career. Most recently, he’s started utilizing PANAVIA SA Cement Universal in his California practice.

	PANAVIA SA Cement Universal is a new product from Kuraray Noritake that eliminates the need for separate primers or silane coupling agents. Instead, it utilizes dual monomer technology to take the guesswork out of cementing many types of ceramics-based restorations. Thanks to MDP and LCSi monomer technology, PANAVIA SA is an easy-to-apply, soft tissue-friendly self-adhesive resin cement that adheres to any material. For Dr. Schmedding, the product’s value lies in its ability to make his job easier and lighten the load as a clinician.

	Current technology in resin cements and ceramic bonding

	Most of the restorations Dr. Schmedding used in the past were ceramic-based. Those ceramics come in two different forms-glass ceramic, and zirconia ceramic, a non-silica and non-glass-based material.

	According to Dr. Schmedding, there is confusion around conditioning these materials prior to a bonding protocol or cementing with a resin-based cement. In short, a glass-ceramic cement was treated entirely differently than zirconia-based materials. With Kuraray Noritake’s PANAVIA SA, there is no more confusion because this material removes all guesswork.
	
	“What’s so unique about PANAVIA SA Cement Universal is its dual-monomer technology in the dual-barrel syringe. The silane is stable and not activated until you mix it. This is a great advantage for bonding glass-ceramics,” he says. “Within those syringes are two very important new monomers, one being a silane based monomer that Kuraray Noritake created, and also the original MDP-based monomer. So no matter which way you’re going or what material you’re utilizing to cement, you have a product that will work on both of those avenues because it has a monomer for both sides of adhesion. That means you no longer need a priming agent for any of the ceramic materials in dentistry today.”

	“Ultimately, it takes away the scenario of figuring out how you’re going to condition your ceramic because no matter what material you’re going to use in a ceramic-based world, you will only have to use the PANAVIA SA Cement Universal,” he says.

	In Dr. Schmedding’s experience, generally he needed to add a primer or conditioner to the ceramic-based cements he was using. There were a number of added steps in understanding the material he was working with in relation to the substrate or crown material he was utilizing.
	
	“The new, universal cement has taken that thought process out of the equation,” he says. “Essentially, you know that PANAVIA SA is going to be able to adhere in relation to a glass-ceramic or a zirconia-based product. Ease of use is a big plus with this product thanks to the dual monomer technology, which eliminates the need for different primers.”

	“The results I’ve seen with PANAVIA SA versus materials I’ve used in the past fare favorably in the sense that generally, what we’re looking at is clean up being a big issue in dealing with resin-based cements. With this product, a simple cure of three to five seconds, and I find it will peel off very easily from the margins and removal seems to be very efficient,” shares Dr. Schmedding. “It’s really revolutionized a lot of adhesion-based dentistry and Kuraray Noritake has always kind of been the leader in adhesion.”

	Building on the success of the PANAVIA SA Cement Plus, the PANAVIA SA Cement Universal offers the same wide range of indications for adhesion and is designed to be suitable for crowns/bridges, inlays/onlays, posts, and adhesion bridges. This self-adhesive resin cement contains a dual-monomer technology that adheres to virtually every material without the need for a primer. This cement is available in both automix and handmix.

How Kuraray’s PANAVIA™ SA Cement Universal lightens the workload for one clinician.

PANAVIA SA is a dual monomer cement that eliminates the guesswork

	OMNICHROMA, the innovative dental composite from Tokuyama Dental that utilizes color-matching technology via a single shade of composite, has been in the hands of a select few dental practitioners for about a year now. The consensus seems to be that OMNICHROMA is a game-changing, time-saving, consistent and efficient product.

	Dr. Howard Jensen is one of the practitioners whose practice partnered with Tokuyama Dental before the official launch of OMNICHROMA in February 2019 to provide initial feedback to the research and development team. Dr. Jensen, who lives in Washington state, has been in practice for almost 38 years and serves as an active member of the American Dental Association, Washington State Dental Association, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Academy of Osseointegration, Seattle King County Dental Society and Greater Eastside Study Club. Since his career began, Dr. Jensen has worked tirelessly to ensure that he continues his family legacy and has made his practice a well-respected and recognized office.

Related reading: How to match challenging shades of tooth color with OMNICHROMA

	Q: How can OMNICHROMA help your practice grow?

	A: “It gives improved and predictable results. With composite restorations, especially when you’re talking about composite restorations in the smile zone, we have had a number of different composites in the past that we’d use, and often we’d layer composites. With OMNICHROMA, there is less of that. There’s still a learning curve, but if we have a tooth that we’re basically just building facially, OMNICHROMA provides very predictable results. Even when you’re doing something like a Class IV restoration and there isn’t that supporting structure, there’s still a need for layering with the masking material at times, but it’s less so. It’s far more finite in its predictability because composite looks different on a tooth than it does on the shade guide. We’ve actually made custom shade guides with our different composites to see what the actual color of the composite is rather than what they say it is. But, when you put OMNICHROMA on the tooth, because the characteristics are so different from standard composites, you get a much more predictable aesthetic result. Also, patients like ‘cutting-edge’ technology that works, especially when it’s something they see and can observe because it’s something they know, but at the same time it’s something totally new in scope and how it approaches the color match. Patients can evaluate it themselves and see the difference within the procedure as well as the result.”

	Q: How does OMNICHROMA’s shade-matching capabilities make doctors more efficient?

	A: “With previous composites, we would evaluate the tooth color characteristics and match that with a color shade or a translucent shade. With OMNICHROMA, the composite draws the color from the tooth, so it’s a totally different approach to shade matching. Minutes saved to a practitioner means more than just time. It’s money going back into your business. Shaving off those minutes to shade match makes for more efficient dentistry.”

	Q: Does OMNICHROMA help to relieve mental stress, worry or pressure on the practitioner?

	A: “This is what I’ve been saying since we started using OMNICHROMA. I don’t find that I’m stressed because I really enjoy what I do and I enjoy sharing what I do, so when it comes to my stress or worry or pressure, I can’t speak to that. However, it really does just give an enhanced end result, so I end up having more time to talk to my patients and share more with them. Approaching the restoration KNOWING I don’t have to spend time making an educated guess on shade lets me focus on enjoying a more relaxed visit with my patient.”

	Q: How can OMNICHROMA reduce overhead costs for a practice?

	A: “To put it simply, it reduces and simplifies inventory by being a broad application composite. We don’t need nearly as many different types of composites, and we use OMNICHROMA just completely in the posterior. We do have a few shades on hand that we use to layer with OMNICHROMA to help with shade matching in the case of very difficult shades, and that’s something I’d like to see them continue to refine. Overall, it’s really allowed us to cut down on the amount of composite we have to keep in our inventory.”

	Q: How can OMNICHROMA aid in patient satisfaction?

A: “OMNICHROMA provides excellent esthetic results and the patients can see that. Thanks to the predictable outcomes, OMNICHROMA provides a more universal and simplistic application than what we’ve been using previously. In turn, it could definitely allow you to perform procedures more quickly, as there’s less layering needed, and with a broader application composite, it’s faster for everybody because you aren’t looking for your supplies or another composite. We know what’s available and that’s what we use, and that can allow for a faster, more predictable, and easier visit for the patient as well.”

	Q: Can OMNICHROMA’s one-shade capabilities enable doctors to focus on other aspects of the procedure that may need more time and attention?

	A: “With this composite, you never compromise time and attention because it gives predictable results and is very user-friendly with its handling characteristics. With other composites, their handling characteristics can be very different from product to product or even shade to shade. OMNICHROMA is easy to condense in the posterior, it’s easy to manipulate in the anterior and, if anything, that’s where I’ve really noticed that I like the consistency of the composite also.”

Trending article: How to avoid restorative Class II blues

	Q: How would you invest the time saved by using OMNICHROMA to help grow your practice?

	A: “I would invest that time in involving the patient in their care; that’s really important to me. I like to keep patients involved and I let them watch in mirrors if they would like. A product like OMNICHROMA gives me more time to explain to them what I am doing and why. I find that patients who are interested in seeing how things are done like to understand better and they’re more motivated to take care of their oral health. They understand more and they can ask questions. I hear all the time from patients that my practice name comes up in conversation because people know that we love what we do and we involve them in what we do. If you’re totally dissociated from that and you’re closing your eyes and checking out, that’s their choice, but I love when I can involve my patients, and products like this help us achieve that.”

	Q: Are innovative products like OMNICHROMA moving dentistry in a direction you’d like to see more growth in? If so, how?

	A: “Yes, it enables more conservative approaches to restorative care by improving esthetics and enabling conservation of natural tooth structure. We don’t have to cut down as much tooth structure, and with these changes we’ll see improved and more impressive dental consumables being incorporated into our practices. Increased bond strengths alone will enable us to achieve more simplicity in delivering care and to be more proactive in taking care of issues before a tooth is terribly weakened by decay or a restoration.”

	Q: How long have you been using OMNICHROMA and do you foresee it becoming your go-to restorative material?

	A: “We’ve been using OMNICHROMA for over a year. We evaluated it during a trial period in our office and it quickly became our go-to material. The handling characteristics and shade-matching capabilities have made it a very easy and predictable composite to use. I think Tokuyama is doing a great job on the innovative side and is leading a lot of the technology toward more conservative and complete care.”

Why one doctor enjoys using OMNICHROMA from Tokuyama Dental to produce enhanced end results. 

Creating improved, predictable results with OMNICHROMA

	James Chae, DDS, has been using Tokuyama Dental America products and composites within his practice for more than half of his 19-year career, so when he got his hands on OMNICHROMA, Tokuyama Dental’s newest resin composite featuring revolutionary shade-matching technology, he was thrilled to try it out before its official launch. He also jumped at the opportunity to provide feedback to a company whose products he’s stood by for almost a decade.

	Dr. Chae has been practicing dentistry since he graduated from the University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry in 2000. Currently he practices general and cosmetic dentistry and owns his own private practice, Diamond Bar Dental Group, in Diamond Bar, California. He takes pride in his work and says he strives to ensure that the services he and his team provide are nothing short of excellent. He cares so much about the oral health of his patients and the general public that he shares his work on social media, where he makes himself available to answer the questions of more than 28,000 followers on Instagram alone.

	When and how did you first hear about OMNICHROMA?

	I started using OMNICHROMA in June 2018, eight months before it was made available to the general public. Prior to that, I had been using Tokuyama Dental America products for the past nine years. Tokuyama Dental America reached out and provided me with the OMNICHROMA composite to try out and give my opinion and testimonial. It was a great honor as well as a nice surprise to see how this composite blends well to the tooth.

	Why did you choose OMNICHROMA for this patient case?

	This particular patient’s tooth was very yellow in shade. It would be harder to match the shade with another composite. Knowing this, I wanted to see how well OMNICHROMA could change and match the shade after light curing and how well it would blend to the tooth.

	How did OMNICHROMA help you to achieve a better clinical outcome?

OMNICHROMA doesn’t stick to hand instruments. It has a good working time, and it’s not too soft and not too hard. The material can be easily placed on the cavity preparation with relatively small pits and grooves and sculpted with hand instruments. Furthermore, it’s easily finished and polished, resulting in a final restoration that looks very natural. However, the most important property of OMNICHROMA is the shade-matching ability after light curing.
	Did you use any specific techniques in this case to help achieve superior results?

	I didn’t use any specific special technique to achieve superior results in this case. However, one technique that I did use for my composite restorations was to make a wide bevel on the cavity prep, create a clean and neat cavity prep, and ensure that all the cavity prepared surfaces were filled with the paste.

	Do you have any tips or tricks for other doctors using OMNICHROMA?

	One tip I would recommend would be to always make a clean and neat cavity preparation without leaving any superficial caries or stains that could interfere with OMNICHROMA’s shade-matching ability. OMNICHROMA BLOCKER is a supplementary material that can also help mask slight staining. Another tip would be to make sure to make a wide bevel on the enamel surface so that the composite can blend well to the existing enamel and dentin.

	How satisfied was the patient with the restoration?

	The patient was very happy with the results. As I do with each of my patients, I showed them their before and after photos of the case.

	How does OMNICHROMA compare to similar products in a case like this?

	OMNICHROMA is unique in that it blends well with any tooth shade-even shades that are challenging to match-but working with the product itself is similar to working with other composites, so there’s no need for anything extra or abnormal.

	Do you feel OMNICHROMA is a valuable tool to have at your disposal for a case like this? If so, why?

	OMNICHROMA is a very valuable tool to have due to its ability to match very challenging shades of tooth color. Having OMNICHROMA at our disposal makes restorations much less stressful for dentists when we’re trying to produce a final restoration that blends well to the tooth and make it look as natural as possible.

	What was your experience with other Tokuyama Dental America products prior to using OMNICHROMA?

	I’ve been using other, similar Tokuyama Dental America products for the past nine years, such as Estelite Sigma Quick and Bond Force. I’ve also used Tokuyama Universal Bond for the last year. Even more recently, I began using Estelite Universal Flow. All these products have enabled me to create great restorations that look very natural. Tokuyama Dental America products have allowed me to provide high-quality, natural-looking and long-lasting restorations for my patients. Honestly, I think Tokuyama Dental America products have made me a better clinician. As a result, I’m more confident to share my work on social media and to other dentists. I would highly recommend Tokuyama Dental America products to other dental professionals.

Learn how one dentist used this new resin composite to achieve superior results.

How to match challenging shades of tooth color with OMNICHROMA

	Marty Jablow, DDS, is known as “America’s Dental Technology Coach,” and he acts as chief consulting officer with Cellerant Consulting Group. However, he wears many hats, as he consults and coaches while also working chairside treating patients and serving as a key opinion leader for Tokuyama Dental America. As a key opinion leader, he was able to try Tokuyama’s one-shade-fits-all resin composite material, OMNICHROMA, before its launch in February 2019. According to Jablow, this product features game-changing composite technology that makes restorations easier for the dentist to place as well as being able to reduce cost in the dental office.

	How has OMNICHROMA’s use of structural color impacted the dental industry?

	“This product is already making an impact. What it’s doing is allowing dentists to decrease their costs because instead of having to warehouse a pallet full of different colors, we now can, for the most part, just select one. So, it takes a lot of guesswork color-matching out of the equation and allows it to simplify a procedure that may be more difficult for the patient and the doctor just strictly based on color. Trying to match colors can sometimes be a very difficult thing to do and OMNICHROMA makes that much easier.”

	Since you were able to try OMNICHROMA before it launched, would you say since its launch it met your expectations regarding its impact on the industry?

	“Not only has it met my expectations, but in many cases, it has exceeded my expectations. My partners, whom I didn’t allow to use the composite before its launch, also think it’s wonderful. I’m not saying it’s completely 100 percent in every single case - no product can do that - but it’s a valuable addition to the armamentarium of composites in my office.”

Read more: A game-changing dental composite

	Could you see the technology behind OMNICHROMA being applied within other facets of dentistry in the future?

	“If this technology can be extrapolated out into other areas of dentistry, especially when paired with something like 3D printing, this could make a very big difference in the chemistry game of dentistry. One of the biggest challenges in dentistry is always color matching, and anything that can make color matching simpler for both the dentist and the laboratory improves our dentistry. It’s all about exceeding patient expectations and, in most cases, the only thing the patient perceives is color because it’s the only thing he or she can see and know. Therefore, things that make the color match better are obviously better for the patient and better for the dentist and the laboratory.”

	Do you think OMNICHROMA makes a doctor’s job easier?

	“It definitely makes the doctor’s job easier. Now, doctors are able to avoid having to select colors based on shade guides and everything that goes in between for every single case. The dentist can now reliably, in most cases, pick up a single composite being assured that they’re going to get a very good - if not excellent - match in color to the adjacent tooth structure.”

It can be a hassle to keep rarely used composite in stock. Do you feel that OMNICHROMA can aid practices in providing better results?

	“We have a dozen shades that we may stock in any given office to try and match a certain color, and now Tokuyama has brought that down to one. So, it makes the job more efficient, and it also costs the dental office less money because we don’t have to stock all of these colors, some of which we seldom use but we need them there just in case. If we need a lot less ‘just in case’ composites, it’s actually more profitable for the dental office because they don’t have to buy these additional shades that they may have bought otherwise.”

	What positive impact do you think this product will have on patient experience?

	“That’s pretty simple. Positive patient experience is if the patient looks and says, ‘I can’t see what you just did.’ Hidden in plain sight is really what we aim to do. If a patient can’t see what we’ve done, then that’s great for everyone because that’s what we’re trying to achieve. We want a natural look using a synthetic material to match tooth color, and the better we can do that, the more appreciative the patient will be and the less stress there is on the doctor. OMNICHROMA makes our job much easier. At the same time, the easier it is to match shade, the less time the patient spends in the chair. So now,  I’m not necessarily doing all the layering that I used to do to try to make a restoration as lifelike as possible. So, by reducing the number of steps I have to take, it’s positively impacted the patient experience.”

Trending article: 3 tips for overcoming common challenges of shade matching

	In conversing with other dentists and dental professionals, has any impact been made or feedback been given that you weren’t expecting?

	“Most people I know who have been using this product have given it very positive feedback. In fact, the other dentists I know using OMNICHROMA haven’t had anything negative to say, but instead they’ve raved about how it’s made their lives easier. I usually don’t see that kind of response to most products on the market.  Usually people say a product didn’t quite meet all of their expectations, but I haven’t seen that at all with OMNICHROMA. As a general rule, the product has exceeded expectations.”

	What would you like to see coming from Tokuyama in the future?

	“They’ve developed this technology and introduced it to the world, and I’d like to see them take it to the next level. Now, this is nature we’re dealing with, so I don’t know if that’s possible, but they’ve done something no one else has done right now and I’m sure that since they were able to accomplish this, they will be able to accomplish further improvements both in the technology and in the material so that it will get better over time.”
	 

Why one dentist says this new material from Tokuyama Dental America is a valuable addition to his office. 

How OMNICHROMA is making dentists’ lives easier

	Zachary Burkett is the product manager overseeing the OMNICHROMA product launch at Tokuyama Dental America. He’s been working with Tokuyama for the last two-and-a-half years, where he started shaping the image that’s now associated with this universal shade-matching composite that was officially launched on Feb. 1. From its undefined beginnings to drafting ads and creating marketing material, defining strategy for the product launch and understanding the technical aspects of OMNICHROMA, Burkett has been at the forefront of what he hopes to see become a product that could revolutionize dentistry.

	Can you give a brief explanation of the technology behind OMNICHROMA?

	Typical composites rely on dyes and pigments to achieve specific shades and colors, and that’s the way the composite market has been for decades. While composites have definitely gotten better at shade matching over time, there haven’t been many leaps in technology when it comes to color and shading. Even our previous products like Estelite, which was highly regarded for its ability to match shades, required many shades of composite in order to accommodate every patient. What’s cool about 

 is that the spherical fillers in the product actually create the color instead of dyes and pigments. As light passes through the composite, the spherical fillers generate red-to-yellow structural color, and that color combines with the reflected color of the patient’s tooth, creating the perfect match. So, OMNICHROMA doesn’t need any dyes or pigments; instead, it just pulls the color from the surrounding tooth.

Read more: Saving valuable time in your dental office with OMNICHROMA

	Does the spherical filler technology exist in any other Tokuyama products currently or is this the first?

This is the first product with the technology by itself. That structural color phenomenon was observed with other parts of our products, but it wasn’t controlled enough to use as the main color mechanism, so we still had to rely on dyes and pigments added to our previous composites to match patients’ teeth.  Our manufacturing process for OMNICHROMA has been refined to the point where we’re able to control the technology in order to make this product possible.

	Do you feel that the technology behind OMNICHROMA can be applied to other aspects of dentistry?

	I think so. We do have some exciting developments being worked on right now, which I can’t speak too much about, but there are definitely some other areas where this technology can be applied and where I think it will be beneficial to the entire industry overall. We’re definitely looking at expanding the OMNICHROMA product line beyond the universal composite.

	What need spurred Tokuyama to produce a product like OMNICHROMA?

	I think part of it was realizing that we had the capability to change something that hadn’t changed for several decades. The process for selecting shades and filling patients’ teeth has pretty much been the same for years, and it was obvious that a simplification there would be a huge benefit to dentists. Filling cavities is kind of their bread-and-butter procedure; it’s the procedure they do the most of every week. So, the fact that that hadn’t changed in so long is kind of remarkable, and we saw an opportunity to streamline something that hasn’t had much streamlining done in a long time in a way that’s pretty extraordinary. This product has the number of shades needed going from about 20 to one. That’s a big reduction and I think a lot of people really appreciate what that means for their practice management, for the actual restoration process itself and just running a tighter business.

	How can OMNICHROMA help doctors and their practices to be more efficient?

	The No. 1 benefit is that there are many shades of teeth from a really light A1 all the way to a D4, and to cover those 16 shades you need 16 different shades of composite. However, you don’t have too many of those really dark patients come in, so you have to keep one syringe on hand for the one patient you see every three years and the composite is going to expire by then. With OMNICHROMA, it’s kind of a first in, first out approach where the same composite you’re using for the patients you’re seeing all the time you’re also using for the one or two patients who are kind of the extreme cases. So, instead of having “just in case” composites, you just have this one and that, I think, is a pretty big benefit to a lot of doctors. Typically, they have to stock multiple shades and keep a wide range of composites to be able to accommodate any patient. The problem with that is that either you don’t have a particular patient’s color composite in stock or you do have it in stock and it ends up going to waste. If you multiply that by the inventory size of any practice, it becomes a pretty big issue with both time and inventory management. This product should hopefully help ease a lot of those issues.

Related reading: 5 mistakes you might be making with composites

	How do you think OMNICHROMA will give patients better esthetic outcomes?

	Because OMNICHROMA gives doctors one product that matches any patient, patients can be confident that when they go in, no matter what shade of teeth they have, they’re going to walk out with a great-looking restoration. They can be confident that they’re going to have a positive esthetic result. What this product really offers to patients is a faster procedure and a better outcome with that procedure. There’s nothing extra with this product, there’s no extra steps or special equipment that doctors have to have that most of them aren’t already doing to achieve better restorations. Ninety-one percent of people in the United States have some sort of filling, so our product can potentially affect 91 percent of people in the United States.

	How have practitioners reacted to OMNICHROMA?

	That has actually been the best part for me working on this product. When I first heard of this product, even I found it a little unbelievable. I figured it might be able to do at least some of what Tokuyama said it would do, and that would be fine for half of the cases, and then for the other half it wouldn’t work. But what we’ve seen with so many people using it is the reaction has just been incredible. I actually have doctors calling in to our office or coming in to tell us that they’ve tried OMNICHROMA and they can’t believe how well it works. That’s been really gratifying for me. We’ve had over 1,000 restorations placed for the product and over 94 percent of them are excellent restorations, according to the doctors who have used it. It’s been really exciting to get it into people’s hands and to hear how everything we’ve said about it is true.

	What does the future look like for OMNICHROMA?

	The future is really bright. Like I said, I can’t speak very much on what our future plans are just yet, but we’re definitely exploring how we can carry this product over into other categories and how this can help dentists in more areas than just the universal composite.

An inside look at the development of OMNICHROMA from Tokuyama Dental America – and what dentists are saying about this material so far.

A game-changing dental composite

	Saving time is an enormous priority in almost every dental office, and OMNICHROMA by Tokuyama Dental America promises to do just that.

	Set to be released in February 2019, OMNICHROMA is a distinctive dental composite that utilizes color-matching technology via a single shade of composite in order to match a wide range of tooth color, giving it a one-shade-fits-all repute in a single application. This product allows dental professionals to save time selecting and layering composite colors, allowing them to better focus on more essential tasks in the care of their patients.

	Dr. Richard Lipscomb has been practicing dentistry in southeast Maryland since 1993. Currently, he’s the solo practitioner at his practice, Woodmore Dental Center, as a general dentist as well as a speaker within the dental community. Lipscomb has been using Tokuyama resins, bonding agents, soft reline materials and desensitizers for about five years, and he says he’s been very happy with their products. According to Lipscomb, he was using Tokuyama Dental’s 

 composite material  every day until recently when he received samples of the company’s newest resin composite, OMNICHROMA.

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	What makes OMNICHROMA’s shade-matching abilities so different than every other product on the market?

	I don’t think any other product has such excellent shade-matching abilities, at least not to this degree. Most of the common brands of composites out there have some kind of chameleon effect, but this one is more than that. OMNICHROMA actually generates the color of the surrounding tooth, resulting in a perfect shade match, and that’s what makes it so different. You have truer matching abilities with OMNICHROMA.

	How would you describe OMNICHROMA’s ease of use?

	OMNICHROMA’s ease of use is good; it provides the color matching benefits without making the product itself feel foreign in your hand, and that’s a big plus. Because of the shade-matching ability, you’d think that it handles differently from similar products, but it doesn’t. It’s very similar to Estelite Sigma Quick (Tokuyama Dental America), which I use every day at my office. They both handle very well - not too soft and not too hard. It’s right in the middle, which is good for people who like working with hard materials or soft materials. OMNICHROMA kind of does a little bit of everything and that versatility is really important to a quality product.

	Do you think doctors will be able to reduce their inventory and the potential waste of unused composite through OMNICHROMA?

Yes. I’ve been using this product since I received my first samples in August and I use it in the same place I would use Estelite Sigma Quick. With OMNICHROMA’s shade matching ability, there’s less need for keeping other shades around. I realize sometimes there are difficult cases that fall outside OMNICHROMA’s shade range, but I haven’t experienced that yet.

	For the most part, the regular basic shades I use most frequently are covered, so there’s less need for other materials, which in turn allows you to decrease the amount of inventory that you have and waste. Because this product can be used as your everyday composite, there’s no way it can go to waste because you’re using it every single day in so many situations and procedures.

	According to Tokuyama Dental, OMNICHROMA can help dental professionals save time per restorative procedure. Have you found that it’s saving you time?

	You know what? It does, but not in the conventional sense of time savings. As dentists, every morning we get a sense of what we’re going to do that day, and most of the time we have a sense of what that patient needs and the difficulty of his or her procedure. Especially when we’re dealing with anterior teeth. This product takes the guesswork out of choosing and changing the shade. It lightens the mental load.

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	When you have this product, this one shade that’s going to blend in with everything, that’s one less thing you have to think about. In turn, it’s one less thing my assistant has to grab or remember, which allows us both to be more productive. Thus, OMNICHROMA made that procedure easier, which allows me to devote that mental strength to other procedures and helps those procedures go better. In that sense, it definitely helps to save time and increase productivity.

	Has OMNICHROMA aided in patient satisfaction for your practice?

	It’s hard to gauge patient satisfaction with a product like this because the patients don’t notice the benefits when they aren’t completely tangible. If the composite looks good and it’s comfortable, they’re generally happy. But for me, what works is the versatility of OMNICHROMA. While OMNICHROMA can be in almost any restoration by itself, Tokuyama Dental also offers a supplementary product, OMNICHROMA BLOCKER, that prevents shade-matching interference caused by other parts of the mouth.  I find this benefits particularly large anterior restorations most. OMNICHROMA BLOCKER allows OMNICHROMA to make restorations look good no matter where they are or their size, and being that OMNICHROMA BLOCKER goes with this specific composite material, it works intuitively and there’s no guesswork, which again, takes less effort on my part. I have a composite I know works, and I have the option of OMNICHROMA BLOCKER that I know will always allow OMNICHROMA to generate a perfect match.

	What do you hope to see in the future from OMNICHROMA and Tokuyama Dental?

	I think Tokuyama Dental does a great job in their research department, coming up with products that actually do what they say they will. They put a big emphasis on improving their products and making them better, so if this is the first wave of this type of product - a product that makes procedures easier for practitioners - then I’m eager to see how they develop this material and this technology in the future. The durability of Tokuyama Dental products I’ve used in the past has been great, and I don’t expect any less from OMNICHROMA.

	Thinking about other resin composites I’ve used that have a chameleon effect to them, I think this is a lot better than those in terms of matching ability, so now it’s just up to Tokuyama Dental to get it out there and get it in the hands of practitioners. Once those doctors use it, I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised in terms of how they can use it and its ability to blend.
	 

How this new resin composite from Tokuyama Dental America will help clinicians to increase productivity.

Saving valuable time in your dental practice with OMNICHROMA

	Dr. Hector Sarmiento, a periodontist in New York City, transitioned from an older CBCT machine to the Veraview X800 in May 2018. He decided to make the switch after using J. Morita’s larger CBCT machine, the 3D Accuitomo 170, while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania and seeing first-hand the precision and clarity of its images. That’s when Sarmiento contacted J. Morita in search of a better CBCT option for his own private practice, and he was met with the smaller, more affordable but comparable Veraview X800.

	What Dr. Sarmiento thinks of the Veraview X800

	I previously had a different CBCT machine here in the office, which was about nine years older, and every time I would get referred a patient for a fractured tooth I couldn’t see the images right because there was so much scatter.

 images is just so much higher than what we were working with before. Everything we do in our practice has to have great quality; we have the best quality implants, bone grafts and membranes and we needed the best imaging too. Within the CBCT world, the technology is changing fast and you have to keep up and I really think this machine is the best there is on the market.

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Overall, I think each feature the Veraview X800 offers is great, but the field of view is really superior to any other machine. You have the ability to switch field of view, and on the smaller field of view you have an endodontal component, so if you do have a fracture it gives you better resolution so that you have a very clear view of the actual tooth, the surrounding structures and any fractures.

	The pan-view is a new feature that I really like as well. Instead of getting an image that’s a bunch of CBCT images stitched together, we get a real panoramic view of the whole field.

	I also love the airway and sinus images within this machine. We get a lot of referrals for 

, and this machine allows you to look at airways, which really makes it a multifaceted machine that covers a broad spectrum of needs.

	We’re in a digital era where everything has to be clear and you have to have the right diagnostic tools to get that clarity. The Veraview X800 offers the best clarity on the market, hands down. In my experience from working with other machines in multiple hospitals and universities, this kind of quality is what we need in order to incorporate the digital world into our offices. This technology allows us to be totally sure in our diagnoses so that we can ensure the best outcomes for our patients.

Why one dentist prefers using this CBCT machine from J. Morita. 

How to achieve superior image quality with the Veraview X800

	Flagship Dental’s lead practitioner Dr. Mike Kelliher, has been an avid user of Planmeca’s PlanMill for 10 years. Prior to using to the Planmeca PlanMill 30 S, Kelliher was utilizing its predecessor, the Planmeca PlanMill 40 S. When the company released the 30 S model early this year, he decided the new features, speed, precision, affordability, user-friendly interface and accuracy made it worth the investment.

	What Dr. Kelliher says about the PlanMill 30S

	In the 10 years I’ve been using Planmeca products, I’ve always stayed because the build-quality of these machines is by far the best in the industry. These things just last; I still have my original mill from more than nine years ago and it’s still going strong. But the machine itself aside, the 

 we get out of these things is impressive. We get them out and they fit extremely well, the anatomy on the restorations is exceptional and in comparison to the other models I’ve seen the precision is better. That’s why we’ve stuck with this brand of mill all these years.

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 provides the same quality as its big brother, the 40 S mill, but it’s smaller, quieter and more affordable. Overall, Planmeca has really taken the old mills and redesigned them and taken them up a notch.

	They’ve simplified the graphical user interface as well as the maintenance. That’s a very critical thing with in-office mills because if the mill is hard to maintain, then it won’t last as long. With this mill, the directions clearly spell out to the office how to do the weekly and monthly maintenance and I think that’s so important. If you’re making the investment, you want it to last.

 has coupled with its mills is also a home run. The software is very intuitive and Planmeca continues to refine it and upgrade it, which is so critical to ensure we’re able to stay modern and up to date with the latest technology. They’ve made the software easy to catch on to and there’s lots of support out there if you need questions answered.

	This mill really hits a sweet spot because it allows clinicians to add in-office milling for a very reasonable price. For us, in-office milling has been a real home run. Our patients love having their restoration completed in a single visit versus having to come back a second time, and it really allows us a lot of flexibility.

How the latest PlanMill model is allowing dentists to add in-office, same-day milling to their practices. 

How to enhance speed and precision with the Planmeca PlanMill 30 S

	The technology involved in 3D printing is quickly evolving for use in the dental industry, and with every new development in 3D printing comes a new facet of the technology for dental labs. EnvisionTEC’s 3D printers, such as the Vida, Vida Continuous Digital Light Manufacturing (cDLM), Vida Hi-Res and Vida Hi-Res Crown and Bridge, coupled with the company’s broad material library, allows lab technicians to print models and surgical guides to crowns and bridges.

, its technology is being “rapidly adopted by dentists, orthodontists and dental labs looking to lower costs, provide more convenient patient care and who desire tighter control over treatment plans.”

 in 2002, it was one of the first 3D printer manufacturers to launch an affordable, portable, “personal factory” printer. Then in 2015, it launched the original 

, which was the first affordable 3D printer in its class to be conveyed in a compact desktop setting for use by dental labs. In turn, EnvisionTEC dove deeper into the niche segment of 3D printing created within the dental industry.

	Since the Vida’s first launch, overall sales of 3D printers within the dental industry has grown more 75 percent. The Vida printers reportedly allow for more flexibility and freedom of movement compared to an intermediary while maintaining a high standard of accuracy across all components. They also boast a printing speed that is said to be 10 times greater than other Direct Light Projection (DLP) printers on the market as well as a fully automated, self-calibrating system and an integrated, embedded PC with Wi-Fi.

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	How has the Vida affected client feedback?

	Matthew Shafer is a clinician at Bay View Dental Laboratory, a family-owned business in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Shafer has used the EnvisionTEC Vida Hi-Res extensively in his work for the last year. Prior to his use of 3D printers, his lab used milling as its primary mode of restoration manufacturing. In many ways, the EnvisionTEC Vida has relieved, if not eradicated, the issues and concerns previously experienced by lab techs and doctors especially when it came to accuracy.

	“When we milled our wax patterns, we had doctors specifically requesting us to hand wax their margins,” Shafer says. “That’s not the case today. Marginal accuracy is no longer a concern.”

	Dental labs are embracing and implementing this technology and the systems associated with it thanks to their broad selection of materials for an extensive range of dental applications. The Vida is being integrated into the digital workflow adding ease of use for CAD/CAM software users.

	“Our EnvisionTEC Vida has set the bar very high, strengthening and adding efficiency at critical stages of our fabrication process,” Shafer adds. “Other printers we’ve had the privilege to use have struggled to meet our high standards.”

	Shafer believes that the Vida has made a tremendous impact on his lab, and other labs looking to break into 3D printing should seriously consider the Vida as a great option.

	“The accuracy is comparable to our best hand-waxed margins,” he said. “The efficiency is very beneficial, but most importantly the consistency provided has made our Vida an invaluable part of the lab.”

	When it comes to making the investment, EnvisionTEC believes its 3D printers help to reduce the labor and material costs for dental labs while providing superior clinical quality and consistency within the manufacturing process. The company goes as far as to say that its technology helps domestic labs compete with the cost of offshore production.

	While Shafer believes that his Vida was a great investment, he is cautiously optimistic regarding its return on investment. “Like many of our newer technologies, there seems to be a weak link somewhere limiting full potential,” Shafer says.

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	Shafer chose the Vida because he felt it was the best combination of price point and accuracy for his lab after comparing 3D printers for dental applications. In his experience, the Vida is user-friendly, but it does come with a learning curve, which makes attention to detail essential. Once the technician is able to overcome that curve however, this equipment and technology is a game changer within the lab.

	EnvisionTEC is dedicated to keeping its customers up to date on any software and material upgrades as they become available. The company also strives to enable a seamless workflow with CAD software like Dental Wings, 3Shape and Exocad, making it easy to combine with a practice’s existing workflow. EnvisionTEC also promises that its use of fewer moving parts means guaranteed durability so their customers experience reliable manufacturing quality.

	“The technology and materials continue to improve as costs decrease, allowing even smaller labs to enjoy the benefits of 3D printing,” Shafer notes. “The accuracy, consistency and ability to be productive during non-business hours are all great points to consider as well.”

	In the end, the needs and aspirations of each dental lab are different, but the overarching desire for the best quality product unites each lab no matter the size. The EnvisionTEC Vida system is a 3D printer designed to provide accuracy and reliability to any sized lab with finesse, affordability and ease of use. 3D printing technology and the major growth it’s experienced within the dental space show great potential for fulfilling a need by working faster and more efficiently-the way that only new technology can.

How the EnvisionTEC Vida has helped one lab stay ahead of the technology curve. 