The perfect match

Victoria Perkins, product manager for 3M ESPE prosthodontic products, takes a close look at fibre posts

RelyX Unicem cement from 3M ESPE now lends its strength to a new Fiber Post System delivering faster post cementation and fewer worries!

Over the past decade, fibre reinforced composite (FRC) posts have gained popularity in the dental market because of their benefits regarding mechanical properties, aesthetics and removability, offering predictable clinical performance.

• Clinical success rate: The use of fibre posts in the dental practice can reduce the risk of root fractures compared to metal posts. The dentine-like flexural strength of fibre posts avoids the “wedge effect” created by stiff and hard metal posts.

• Aesthetics: With the use of full-ceramic restorations continuing to increase, fibre posts offer an important advantage as they are translucent and therefore very well suited for all-ceramic restorations, especially in the anterior region.

• Removal: Fibre posts can be easily drilled out if endodontic revision is required.

Despite these clear advantages of fibre posts and the paradigm shift from metal to fibre posts that is also reflected in the scientific community, there is one drawback: they have to be adhesively cemented into the root canal which is difficult for multi-step, moisture sensitive adhesive protocols. Market research has shown that many dentists expect to have difficulties with the complex cementation procedure of fibre posts in the root canal and as a consequence do not use them routinely.

3M ESPE now provides a state-of-the-art fibre post with one of the best cementation solutions, to overcome this drawback of multi-step adhesive cementation in the root canal.

RelyX fiber posts from 3M ESPE offer enhanced aesthetics as well as an elastic modulus similar to that of dentine, thus reducing the risk of root fractures.

Benefits of RelyX fiber posts:

• Fatigue resistance (strength): Fatigue is likely to be the ultimate enemy for dental materials. Fatigue testing therefore provides a very realistic picture of clinical performance. RelyX fiber posts survive more than 5 million test cycles in modern fatigue testing machines.

• RelyX fiber posts have a tapered design to avoid the unnecessary removal of root dentine and is available in three sizes.
• RelyX fiber post is a translucent and uni-directed quartz fibre post that allows light transmission
• RelyX fiber post is radiopaque.
• RelyX fiber post is metal-free

Cementation with RelyX Unicem cement offers a very easy and reliable procedure that results in high adhesive strength which helps to stabilise the tooth and minimises the risk of debonding, which is the second biggest concern of adhesive cementation in the root canal. To make the cementation procedure even more simple and reliable, 3M ESPE offers the RelyX Unicem Aplicap elongation tip that enables a virtually void-free bottom-to-top filling technique of the root canal – eliminating waste, frustration and air bubbles.

Benefits of RelyX Unicem cement and RelyX Unicem Aplicap elongation tip:

• High bond strength to root dentine and the RelyX fiber post without any pre-treatment of tooth and post

• Easy, void-free and reliable cement application with the RelyX Unicem
Aplicap elongation tip

• Time-saving and strong adhesive one-step cementation without etching,
priming and bonding in the root canal

• Light-curing and self-curing modes lead to excellent bonding in any case

• RelyX Unicem cement is proven reliable for holding permanent restorations by more than sixty in-vitro and in-vivo studies

The RelyX fiber post comes in innovative, differentiated blister packs for easy, spill-free, hygienic handling. It is available in three sizes that are defined with colour coded rings. 3M ESPE also provides the corresponding RelyX fiber post drill in three sizes, plus a universal drill reamer.  The RelyX Unicem Aplicap elongation tip is included in the RelyX fiber post intro kit, starter kit and fiber post refill packs.

The RelyX fiber post starter kit contains a RelyX Unicem trial kit and a RelyX fiber post intro kit, everything you need to start using RelyX fiber posts right away.

For further information please contact 3M ESPE on 00 800 096 13981, visit our website at http://www.3MESPE.com/uk or email us on 3MESPEUK@mmm.com.