The BEST Composite Tips for your Restorations!
Hey everyone,
I hope you are all well and have had a fantastic week! A bit of a different newsletter this week, as the focus will be on more clinical dentistry, where I will try and give you guys some more practical advice based on what I learned this week on clinics and from some amazing resources!
🦷 Dental Diary
The main reason for this different twist this time around is that I didn’t see any patients this week; I had a cancellation on clinics so I did some phantom head work to practice my composites, which will have been posted today (check it out ;) ) over on my Instagram!
I did have a Radiology tutorial this week as well though which was incredibly helpful because it made sure we solidified the lectures that we were given for radiology and human disease this year.
🧠 Insight of the Week
The insight of the week is a very short one, but it is all about the idea of working with precision as a dentist. Whether we are doing crown preps are restorations, we are often working in millimetre measurements (or even smaller), so approaching every step independently and making sure to nail it before moving on will help us maintain a high standard for our work and develop greater precision, and ultimately a better outcome for our patients. That means that when applying a bonding agent onto the tooth, only apply it in the specific areas that you are supposed to, and for the exact time you are supposed to, rather than just scrubbing the microbrush onto the tooth for a few seconds while we think about what we’re going to have for dinner that evening!
💉 Clinical Revelation
Here are the two best tips I learned this week about composite restorations:
DO NOT drag your composite when you place it into a cavity, instead focus on sculpting and cutting it, as it maintains its smooth consistency that way. If you drag it, it can accumulate these flakes on the surface after you cure, and that pulling motion might lead to voids and deficiencies in your restorations!
If you are using a circumferential matrix, like the OmniMatrix we have at King’s, it can be hard to create a tight contact point because of how we have to tighten the matrix to get a good proximal seal, and that creates a gap between our restoration and the adjacent tooth, leading to food packing. A great tip my tutor taught me is to place the matrix band, tighten it like normal, and place our wedge in. If we select the wedge correctly and it fits quite tightly, then we can loosen our matrix AFTER the wedge is in place, and that gives our matrix some give so that when we burnish it against the adjacent tooth, the matrix is loose enough to actually adapt, change shape and contact the adjacent tooth properly!
🎙️ Podcast Plug
This week I am plugging The Protrusive Dental Podcast! This is an absolute must-follow if you are a dental student who cares about your craft. The host Jaz Gulati is incredible at breaking down dental concepts in a digestible way, and although aimed at dentists, even as a student, his podcasts have helped me immensely!
On top of that, he brings on brilliant guests to discuss concepts, techniques, and dental philosophies! Specifically, his most recent episode with Dr Ahmed Tadfi was phenomenal! Dr Tadfi is a magician of a dentist. I really understood why in this episode, where he explains his technique for working with composite in meticulous detail, and he inspired the tips in the newsletter this week!
I will have that episode linked here if you want to check it out!
Once again, if you can take a minute to fill out this survey for a project I am working on, that would be much appreciated! PLEASE CLICK HERE I am working on an educational product aimed at dental students and young dentists and I want to hear from you guys so I can give you as much value as I possibly could!
That's all for this week, I hope you guys have a great next week! If you are enjoying this weekly email thing I'm doing or have any suggestions, please let me know, my Instagram is always open if you'd like any advice! Talk to you guys next week!
Get Better Today!
Omar Tabaqchali :)