New Millenium Bonding

Results of the study, which is sponsored by Septodont, were presented Thursday in a poster session at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) meeting in San Diego.

"The idea is that N’Durance has higher strength and polishability," said Holli Riter, DDS, lead researcher of the study being performed at Loma Linda University. "A lot of times when you study composites, the polishability is one of the first things to go down and so far, with the two-year and even the three-year results that are here, the polishability has stayed pretty high. That’s been a nice surprise."

“The polishability has stayed pretty high. That’s been a nice surprise.”
— Holli Riter, DDS, lead researcher
Dr. Riter and her team are evaluating the clinical effectiveness of the product in class III, IV, and V diastema closure restorations and facial veneers. They placed 52 restorations using OptiBond Solo Total Etch dental adhesive (Kerr Dental). After 18 months, 33 restorations were rated for different variables: anatomic form (AF), color match (CM), marginal adaptation (MA), marginal discoloration (MD), surface staining (SS), retention (RT), secondary caries (SC), fracture (FX), and polishability (PL).

"We rate it on an alpha, bravo, charlie, delta scale — alpha being the highest," Dr. Riter explained. "Most of our results have been alpha, with a few bravos, initially in color match. At the two-year mark we’ve had a couple of fractures, but the fractures tend to be on the same people. It’s not a fracture across the board, so it’s likely related to habits."
All 33 restorations had excellent ratings for AF, MD, SS, RT, and SC. Gingival health and postoperative sensitivity of the restored teeth were taken into account as well, and none of the patients reported sensitivity or exaggerated gingival response. The researchers determined that all restorations were "clinically satisfactory."

The study will be completed next year. The three-year results are looking similar to the two-year ones so far, according to Dr. Riter. "Basically, they’re all running along the same types of issues. We’ve had no problem with overall form, and nothing’s wearing away. Our main issues that come up are chipping every once in a while."

"It’s held up very well, in my opinion," she concluded.