Composite Veneers

Material Selection

When treatment planning a direct resin restoration, some basic questions need to be answered before preparation of the teeth. Will the restoration be located in the posterior segment or in the aesthetic zone, which is readily visible to the patient and other people? In Addition, will the restoration be replacing part of or all of the facial surface of the tooth/teeth? The Dentist needs to have some understanding of the properties of the materials selected regarding handling, strength, opacity, and overall polish ability.

Poor material selection may lead to a less than ideal result, such as a restoration that lacks the strength to maintain long-term function or one that becomes dull over time as opposed to maintaining its luster. When it comes to choosing a resin in today’s marketplace, there is a wide array of brands to choose from that offer a variety of formulations. The different categories of composite resins include the following 4:

Micro fills

These resins, which have been around for over 30 years, contain approximately, 35% to 50% silicon dioxide filler particles ranging from 0.02 to 0.04um, Due to their small filler size, they can be highly polished to mimic a luster similar to enamel. Unfortunately, what many gains in appearance, they lose in overall strength, making them most suitable for use in anterior restorations or in Class V cervical restorations.

Hybrids

Hybrid Composite resins offer both strength and reasonable polish ability and have been frequently used in posterior restorations. A heterogeneous aggregate of filler particles in size ranging from 0.05 to 5.00um comprises approximately 70% t 80% of the weight of these materials. Although many kits offer a variety of shades, including incisal and various opacities, some hybrids are less able to retain their gloss over time when compared with newer formulations of composite resins.

Nano-fills and Nano-hybrids

These materials represent the newest category of resins to be added to the composite armamentarium. They consist of nanomers (ie, 5- to 75-nm particles) and “nanocluster” agglomerates (ie, 0.6 to 1.4um in size) as fillers. The advantage of these resins is that they possess strength similar to that of micro hybrids, but offer the ability to be polished and appear to retain their gloss for a longer period of time when compared with older composite formulations.