What kind of composite would you use for an aesthetic reconstruction? Most of you probably have a clear idea of what an aesthetic dental composite or anterior composite is. But what's probably more difficult to determine is: which is best suited to help reach your objectives faced with all the existing options available? To help make your choice as informed as possible, we've created this post which'll tell you everything you need to know about these products. Don't miss out!
Composites are synthetic materials, mixed heterogeneously, which form a compound used in dentistry to repair teeth damaged by caries or trauma as well as for aesthetic treatments. Today, we're focusing on the latter, on aesthetic composites, which are ideal when an aesthetic result with a very natural finish is required. Why's that? Because they can be polished to a high long-lasting gloss.
Aesthetic composites are mainly used for aesthetic reconstructions of the anterior sector. They are intended to go unnoticed and blend in with the tooth structure, maintaining, as far as possible, all its aesthetic and functional properties. Want to find out more about this star product and about the 10 composites that provide more aesthetics to anterior restorations? Then read on because we're only just getting started!
Types of composites according to particle size
Currently, composites are the most widely used dental material in dentistry, as they can be applied in many situations while maintaining dental aesthetics. Depending on particle sizes, we can distinguish between different types of composites:
- Macroparticles or Macrofillers: particle size between 0.1 and 100 microns. Due to functional and aesthetic limitations, this type is no longer used.
- Microparticles or Microfillers: the size ranges around 0.04 microns. They provide the best aesthetic properties, but are less resistant to occlusal loads and wear and tear. Therefore, aesthetic or anterior composites are usually in this group.
- Hybrids or micro-hybrids: made with smaller and larger particles. This creates a material that combines function and aesthetics. Universal composites, so called because they can be used anteriorly or posteriorly, are in this group.
- Nanoparticles or nanofillers: thanks to nanotechnology, they consist of smaller particles. This type of composite has improved physical and aesthetic properties. All composites in 3M's Filtek line use nanofiller technology.
- Nanohybrids: this group includes all hybrids containing 0.04 µm pyrogenic silica. They have similar characteristics to the above group but differ in that their wear and tear is more subtle and they are able to maintain even more gloss and surface structure. Most of the flowable composites belong to this group.
Key characteristics of aesthetic composites
Aesthetic composites have high aesthetic properties such as translucency, polishability and fluorescence. However, their functional properties, such as wear and tear resistance and masticatory load bearing, are lower than those of posterior or universal composites. The characteristics of these composites include:
- Achieve a very natural finish.
- They can be polished to a long-lasting high gloss.
- They enable modification of the colour, shape and size of the tooth without the need for milling.
- Tooth-like elasticity.
- Radiopacity.
- Colourfastness.
- They have a broad range of shades.
Aesthetic and visual properties of anterior composites
Nowadays, it is not only important to guarantee the durability of restorations, but it is also essential that the composites have an optimal aesthetic result, in other words, that they resemble the natural characteristics of the teeth as closely as possible.
The main challenge is to achieve a seamless integration between the restorations and the adjacent natural teeth. To achieve this, the main thing is to have a clear understanding of the morphology of the tooth being restored: colour, opacity, texture, light transmission and translucency.
In order to choose the right aesthetic composite, it's crucial to consider a series of optical properties:
- Hue: refers to the name of the colour, which is the specific type of wavelength (yellow, blue, green, red...) that is reflected back to our eyes.
- Chroma: the degree of saturation, the amount of pigments it contains or the intensity of the hue. In composites, the chroma is coded by a gradual numbering from 1 to 4 which indicates the increasing degree of saturation of the composite.
- Value: the achromatic dimension of the colour, in other words, the brightness or luminosity. It can also be considered as the material's ability to absorb or reflect light. It refers to the amount of black and white in an object that produces sensations of its proximity or depth and also related to translucency and opacity. The lower the value, the more translucent and greyish the tooth is. Conversely, the higher the value, the whiter and more opaque the tooth is. Age can also play a role, adult teeth are more translucent and the enamel is thinner.
- Opalescence: this is the characteristic shade of the tooth enamel along its entire surface. It is a fundamental characteristic of anterior composites, as it creates effects of vitality and depth in the structure.
- Fluorescence: the ability of a material to diffuse light within the visible spectrum through absorbing energy from an external source. When teeth are subjected to ultraviolet rays, they exhibit fluorescence ranging from bright white to light blue, making teeth appear whiter and brighter and enhancing their vitality. Today, the majority of anterior composites reproduce the fluorescence of natural teeth very well.
Source: GC Dental Europe
Colour choice
The second challenge is to make them undetectable and unnoticeable. To achieve this, it is essential to get the choice of shade right, which is the main concern in most dental treatments. For its part, anterior composite is a material that blends in very well and achieves great results.
Today, most resin systems use the VITA classification to identify the shades. In which we can find 4 basic shades:
- A (reddish-brown) : ideal for 80% of patients.
- B (orange-yellow).
- C (grey-brown).
- D (grey-pink) : used more for characterisation. Categorised here at 5%.
Top 10 Aesthetic Composites at Dentaltix
Empress Direct Composite - Ivoclar Vivadent
Features of the Empress Direct :
- Provides a high gloss surface.
- Excellent polishing properties.
- Fluorescence similar to Empress materials.
- No need to use a specific layering technique.
- Adequate light tolerance.
- Radiopacity.
- There are 32 shades and 5 levels of transparency.
- Available in: Enamel, Dentine and Translucent shades.
- Contents: 1 x 3g syringe.
Clearfil Majesty ES2 Composite – Kuraray
Features of Clearfil Majesty ES2 Pack:
- Nano-hybrid universal composite with a high refraction matrix.
- It is photopolymerisable and radiopaque and has low shrinkage stress.
- It has excellent dentine translucency and opacity.
- It provides easy sculpting and an attractive and glossy finish.
- It has an intelligent system capable of delivering predictable results.
- It is non-sticky and has a long working time, making it easy to sculpt.
- It's easy to handle.
- It has high strength and low wear and tear.
- Contents: 1 x 3.6g syringe of Clearfil Majesty ES2 universal colour U + 1 x 12 g syringe of Clearfil Majesty ES2 universal colour U.
GC Gradia Direct Composite
Features of GC Composite Gradia Direct:
- GC Aesthetic composite.
- Perfect for saving time and money in the clinic.
- Provides a natural appearance, with colours very similar to the tooth.
- It's easy to polish and clean.
- Light-curable and radio-opaque.
- Ideal for aesthetic anterior and posterior restorations.
- Available in: 20 A2 capsules or 10 A4 capsules.
Amelogen Plus Composite - Ultradent
Features of Amelogen Plus Composite:
- Viscosity can be modified through Composite Wetting Resin.
- More controlled and reliable handling without spilling.
- Intuitive colour system.
- Only suitable for enamel restorations, use a single shade.
- Restorations with a natural aesthetic.
- Weighing 76% by weight.
- Average particle size of 0.7 μm.
- The Opaque White shade can be used to reproduce staining and reduce translucency.
- Contents: 1 x 2.5g (1.19 ml) syringe
Amaris Composite – Voco
Features of Set Amaris Set :
- Easy to use obtain optimal results in just two steps.
- Non-sticky consistency.
- It is characterised by providing an optimal polish.
- It has a natural fluorescence.
- High colourfastness.
- The shade is created from the inside of the teeth.
- Contents: 8 x 4g syringes (O1, O2, O3, O4, O5, TL, TN, TD) + 2 x 1.8g Amaris® Flow syringes (HT, HO) + accessories.
Composite Durafill VS – Kulzer
Features of Durafill VS Composites:
- Microfiller Composite for anterior restorations.
- Easy handling due to its particularly smooth consistency.
- Very fine smooth surface to achieve a perfect polish.
- Marked colour brilliance with natural refraction of light F.
- Harmonious colour with the surrounding tooth substance after polymerisation.
- Provides highly aesthetic results especially in anterior teeth.
- Available in A1, A2, A3 and A4 shades.
- Contents: 20 x 0.25 g capsules.
G-aenial Anterior Composite– GC
Features of the G-aenial Anterior Composite:
- It has natural reflectivity which provides invisibility.
- It represents an innovative chromatic concept.
- Easy handling.
- It has a good polishing capacity.
- Simple and easy to use.
- Simplified tracking.
- It has high strength and flexibility.
- Available in shades: A1, A2, A3, A3.5, A4, B1,B2, C3, A02, A03, J3 and CVD.
Composite Venus - Kulzer
Features of Venus Composite:
- Hybrid-based light-curing composite with fine particles.
- Has excellent aesthetics.
- Provides a high polish.
- It has high stability and high resistance to abrasions.
- It has medium-viscosity. filling content
- It is strong and at the same time soft in its processing.
- It is easy to mould.
- Chromatic range adapted to 27 different colours and adapted to the VITA guide.
- Light shades are available for teeth with whitening treatment.
- Ideal for aesthetic restorations in anterior and posterior teeth.
- Contents: 10 x 0.25g A4 capsules.
Composite Admira - Voco
Features of the Admira Composite:
- Composite with excellent biocompatibility.
- Provides perfect aesthetics.
- It's quality that has been tried and tested for years.
- It is non-sticky, mouldable, adaptable to the margins.
- Less shrinkage than conventional composites.
- Has tooth-like thermal expansion.
- It has high abrasion resistance and colourfast.
- Ideal for all types of restoration.
- Contents: 25 x 0.25g capsules.
Filtek Supreme XTE - 3M Composite
Features of the Filtek Supreme XTE Professional Composite Kit:
- Exceptional handling.
- Proporciona una estética natural.
- Excellent polish. (Better preservation of the polish than a microfiller).
- Wide range of shades and opacities.
- Improved fluorescence
- Unique nanofiller technology.
- Outstanding strength for use in anteriors and posteriors (offers wear resistance similar to enamel).
- Contents:12 x 4 g syringes in shades Dentine (A2, A3, A4), Body (A2, A3, A3.5, A4), Enamel (A1, A2, A3, A3, W) and Translucent.
As you can see, nowadays aesthetics have become the primary focus and are given priority over durability. Hence the importance of selecting the aesthetic or anterior composites that meets the necessary requirements to achieve the most natural result possible. We really hope we've answered all your questions but, if not, we'll be happy to help you!
If you'd like to know more about the differences between these composites and universal composites, don't hesitate to visit our blog: "Anterior and Posterior Universal Composites". And to ensure you don't miss any news about the latest dental products that will be revolutionising the industry, follow us on our social networks!
Until next time!
