Indirect Composites: Dentistry’s Best Kept Secret!
Presenter: Dr. Damon Adams
3 Lecture Hours
Aesthetic dentistry is not just for boutique practices and esthetic restorations are not just for anterior teeth! Today’s general practitioners should learn to be comfortable with providing this viable treatment option to satisfy the needs of their patients and to help reduce stress while increasing profitability.
Many practitioners are frequently placing direct composites in teeth that should be restored with indirect composite restorations. In fact, doctors often “habitually” place a full crown when a more conservative indirect composite could be utilized in order to “bank” valuable tooth structure and optimize gingival health by retaining natural tooth contours. For moderately broken down posterior teeth, aesthetic inlays and onlays have become a viable and appropriate treatment option. The integration of these proven restorations into the progressive dental practice can provide numerous benefits to our patients and to our business. Learning how to articulate the value of indirect composites to our patients is the key to success!
Laboratory communication and technical issues that affect the final results and longevity of indirect composites will also be discussed throughout this seminar. The treatment planning, preparation, and marketing portions of this seminar will also apply to those doctors offering CAD/CAM fabricated inlays and onlays.
In this lecture you will learn:
- Scientific, clinical, and financial rationale for use…should we be prescribing them more often?
- Indirect composites…how do they compare to porcelain and other restorative materials?
- Diagnosis and treatment-planning considerations.
- Preparations…what does the laboratory need to create a strong and esthetic indirect composite restoration? Proper burs to use and preparation technique, step-by-step.
- When to cover the cusp, when not to cover the cusp!
- Temporization made easy with little or no sensitivity!
- Bonding techniques…it is getting much simpler!
- Maintenance, insurance, and fee considerations.
- Marketing…what is the key to marketing indirect composites to our patients in an insurance-dependent, commodity based world? What can we learn from the non-par, fee-for-service practice?
An excerpt from one of Dr. Adams’ Dentistry Today articles:
January 2004; archived at dentistrytoday.com on 9/9/04
The Indirect Composite Resin Restoration - An Underutilized Restorative Choice?
Damon Adams, DDS |
The number of direct composites being placed by dentists in the United States has climbed rapidly in the last 10 years. According to a 2003 survey, 92% of patients preferred composite resin fillings for aesthetic reasons. In the same survey, 61% of dentists stated that direct composites were preferred because they represented a more conservative restorative choice.1 In May 2002, the American Dental Association reported that 61% of dentists had decreased the use of amalgam.2 Another survey in 2003 put the figure at 71%.1 A report in June 2002 noted that the number of direct composites was eclipsing the number of amalgams being placed in the United States.3
While the use of direct composites has steadily increased, the laboratory industry has witnessed a much slower growth in the use of laboratory-fabricated indirect composite restorations. This is despite positive reports in the literature regarding the clinical performance of certain indirect composites when prescribed for conservative inlays and onlays in patients presenting without serious occlusal pathology4. Respected international lecturers have also recognized that indirect composites can be a viable treatment for moderately broken down teeth5. Even though there are many clinical situations amenable to the placement of direct composites, we would also expect to see more frequent use of indirect composites when indicated. Why is the growth rate of indirect composites not paralleling that seen with direct composites?
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Dr. Damon C. Adams, a graduate of the University of Michigan, is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Toledo College of Medicine. He lectures internationally emphasizing doctor-technician relationships and techno-clinical perspectives. He also facilitates hands-on preparation workshops designed to optimize the utilization of all-ceramic systems. In addition to his years in private practice, he has had the opportunity to serve as a doctor-technician liaison for many dental laboratories throughout North America since 1996. Dr. Adams is editor-in-chief of Dentistry Today. In addition, he also serves on the Advisory Board for Spectrum Dialogue (Palmeri Publications).
Dr. Adams is an active member of the ADA, AGD, AACD, SCAD, and the National Association of Dental Laboratories.
He may be reached at damona11@hotmail.com or via adamsdentalseminars.com |
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