GC's EQUIA Forte "new" strengthened glass ionomer


Each year,  when I go to the Greater New York Dental Convention, I make a point to stop by the GC America Booth. They have a great product line and many of their products are available in easy to use , preloaded capsules that can be initiated in my amalgam triturator (an electric capsule shaker system). The capsules eliminate the need to involve my assistant in making a consistent mix on a glass slab (sometimes a potentially frustrating experience).

As I have written before, I am a big fan of their Miracle Mix product and I use it routinely for core buildups and for temporization after I excavate a tooth that will need an eventual crown. It has only one drawback, it's fairly ugly since it only comes in one shade of grey!. I can't use it on front teeth and its not really appropriate to be placed as a core for an Emax crown ( the grey might show through).

This year at the GC booth they demonstrated a new "strengthened Glass ionomer called EQUI Forte that seems perfect for placement in teeth where Miracle Mix is not appropriate. It can be used as a "permanent" restorative for Class I, II, III and V preparations and comes in assorted shades. It also can be used in class II sandwich preparations that lack cavosurface gingival enamel to bond to. Their website has some excellent clinical videos featuring Dr. Randy Shoup that are worth watching.

They gave me a few samples to try and I like it . I plan on ordering some capsules to have on hand , mostly for use as a miracle mix alternative for patients with higher esthetic needs. I am not sure yet whether it will be as durable as I have found Miracle Mix restorations to be but I would like to start using it and find out.

Actually I only foresee one real problem... since these filling won't be ugly, my patients may not feel like coming back for their crown in a reasonable amount of time and be more likely to wait until the tooth starts to bother them ( not a good thing!).

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2017/07/gcs-equia-forte-new-strengthened-glass.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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