Lee Ann Brady, DMD's Dental Blog

  • Home
  • About Dr. Lee Ann Brady
  • Dental Practice
  • Categories
    • Dental Materials
    • Esthetic Dentistry
    • Occlusion/TMD
    • Practice of Dentistry
    • Preventive Dentistry
    • Restorative Dentistry
    • Restorative Techniques
    • Treatment Planning
    • Videos
    • A-Z Topic List
  • Speaker’s Packet Request
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Dental Materials / No More Gold Composite Instruments

No More Gold Composite Instruments

By Lee Ann Brady on 03.19.17Category: Dental Materials, Restorative Dentistry

Over the years I have had a love hate relationship with composite instruments. In the search for something that the composite did not stick to I have tried the gold tipped variety, the anodized version and even plastic versions. They all work great when they are brand new out of the package. The challenge is that they are highly susceptible to wear and tear. If any composite gets left on the ends and baked on during sterilization let the stickiness begin. If you try and remove this baked on resin you scratch the instrument which is just as bad. So we instituted a meticulous procedure of wiping the ends with a 2 x 2 soaked in alcohol while we worked. You can imagine how often this has gotten overlooked. Then we even bought special cassettes for our composite instruments to prevent them from touching other instruments and getting scratched that way.

Recently I have been trying several varieties of composite instrument handles that come with disposable ends. The idea is that the handle gets sterilized, and each procedure you put a new end on so it can’t be damaged. Since you will be throwing it away at the end of the procedure you don’t have to be careful with it while you work.

The first one I tried is the OptraSculpt Pad from Ivoclar Vivadent. I figured it must be great as they are sometimes out of stock. Designed to replace a plastic instrument or bladed instrument for sculpting composite on the labial or lingual of a tooth. Suffice it to say I love them! The replaceable foam pads aren’t sticky, do stay in the handle and they actually have replaced both my gold tipped plastic instruments and my sable brush. The OptraSculpt Pad allows me to create a very smooth labial surface and easily blend my layers when using multiple colors of composite.

Related

Share

Comments

  1. Kim says

    September 13, 2022 at 6:15 AM

    I can’t get bonding or composite off gold plastic Instruments

    Reply
    • Lee Ann Brady says

      September 20, 2022 at 8:08 AM

      A 2 x 2 that is moist with ethanol or acetone works if the composite or resin has not set yet.

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel

Search

Recent Posts

  • Retraction Paste Technique Sensitivity
  • The Next Generation of Glass Ionomer Cements
  • A Fantastic New Temporary Cement
  • Tissue Blanching When Seating An Implant Restoration
  • Is It Time To Get An Intra-oral Impression Scanner?
  • Does Your Team Order The Dental Materials You Want?

Recent Comments

  • Joe on Stick Bite: Why and How
  • Joan Johnson on Post & Core’s Coming Loose?
  • Rosemary on Ugh, The Margins Are Open!
  • Sakshi on Removing An e.max Restoration
  • Jeremy Montrose on Ugh, The Margins Are Open!
  • John on Signs & Symptoms of a Restricted Envelope of Function

Policies

Terms of Use

Privacy Policy

Cancellations and Refunds

Security Seal

© 2020 Lee Ann Brady LLC, All Rights Reserved Site by CSL