As a dentist coming from public health, I have a love/hate relationship with glass ionomer (GI) restorative materials. The obvious benefits of fluoride release and recharge make them ideal for patients with high caries rates; however, the poor esthetics and difficult handling properties made them a challenge in my day to day practice. New advances in GI restorative materials have significantly improved on the esthetics, handling properties, moisture tolerance and strength of these materials.
Here at the Dental Advisor we recently received EQUIA Forte™ HT FIL (GC America). This GI restorative material is the latest in the EQUIA Forte™ family of materials and it boasts many improvements over its predecessors. The manufacturer claims this material is easy to contour and has non-sticky handling. New particles and fillers make for a more translucent, esthetic restoration. It is indicated for class I, class V, and class II non-stress bearing cavity preparations, as you would expect from a GI restorative material; however, with the proper technique, this material is also indicated for stress-bearing class II restorations!
EQUIA Forte being expressed into model tooth EQUIA Forte Coat being placed on final restoration EQUIA Forte and EQUIA Forte Coat packaging and dispensing
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team and our editorial board?
– We were surprised at how creamy the material was when expressed. It made filling the cavity preparation and handling easy.
– There is an additional step required in the placement of EQUIA Forte™ Coat. This monomer material improves wear resistance to the restoration, as was explained to me by Matt Cowen (Matt heads up the research here at the DA Lab); however, as a clinician I am thinking about how it also adds more time to the procedure and requires me to get my curing light out.
– We are finding that more and more offices are no longer investing in triturators, which would be a barrier to using this particular material.
– The EQUIA Forte™ Coat added a very nice finish and seal to the restoration.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for our clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!