by Dr. Lee Ann Brady
Restorations are the foundation of a thriving dental practice because they simultaneously provide a creative challenge, while also delivering life-changing results in function and esthetics to patients. The balance between when to choose temporary, long-term, or permanent materials for crown and bridge restorations requires careful consideration. When done right, they have the ability to drive practice production, but this is also dependent on the clinician’s ability to leverage key products in the right circumstances.
Patients need to be guided through the different stages of treatment via the use of materials that last as long as they expect and provide the right amount of satisfaction. For versatility, efficiency, and durability, use both Luxatemp Ultra and LuxaCrown restorative materials so that you can effectively bridge the gap between temporary and long-term restorations with ease.
Luxatemp Ultra is the go-to bis-acryl temporary material that enables dentists to provide esthetic and lifelike provisionals to patients. LuxaCrown takes them to the next step in their restorative journey by offering a long-lasting chairside crown and bridge material. Together, Luxatemp Ultra and LuxaCrown provide the platform dentists need to get patients comfortable and happy while they await their final restorations.
5 Reasons Why the Right Temporary and Long-Term Crown and Bridge Materials Matter
Reason 1: On-Demand Solutions Equal Chairside Confidence
Many clinicians have found it critical to their dental practice that they can provide the appropriate transition phases for a variety of patients in need of restorative care. In some cases, this is because they have patients who are not financially ready or able to commit to the final restoration and need a solution that can at least get them through a period of months or years. The dentist who can provide a temporary or long-lasting option will later reap the rewards from a loyal long-term patient who they trusted at the outset.
But in most cases, temporaries and long-lasting crowns and bridges are simply necessary to maintain space for the final restoration, protect any exposed dentin, ensure the maintenance of interproximal contacts, and keep the patient feeling and looking good while they wait. Provisionals may not be the ultimate result, but they are crucial to ensuring patients end up with the correct occlusion and esthetics. With Luxatemp Ultra and LuxaCrown, a workable solution becomes an on-demand reality with the ease of implementing an esthetic and functional result chairside. Patients appreciate how quick and reliable these materials make their appointments.
Reason 2: Unsurpassed Mechanical Properties
By using Luxatemp Ultra, you’ll also be able to take advantage of qualities like industry-leading flexural strength (127 MPa) and unsurpassed break resistance. Flexural strength is what controls how much a material can take before it gives in and breaks. As a result, there cannot be any compromise in this area in order to elevate resistance to fracture. These factors also add up to superior stability and durability, so you can rest easy knowing you have full confidence in all your temporary restorations. Even though Luxatemp Ultra is a temporary material, you won’t have to live with the constant anxiety that multiple patients will be calling the office needing their temporary replaced. You will save time and money, and reduce stress in the practice. Plus, Luxatemp Ultra has a Barcol hardness of 59, so you know it has been verified to withstand the forces generated in the mouth. There can be no sacrifice in this area, especially for two-unit and multi-unit temporaries.
When you need to bridge the gap between a temporary restoration and a permanent one, LuxaCrown is the perfect solution. This material can last up to five years, which buys you and the patient plenty of time to determine the appropriate path for their dental work. LuxaCrown ups the Barcol hardness to 66, giving you the mechanical edge that is crucial for a crown or bridge to remain uncompromised over years of chewing and other challenges. LuxaCrown also has high flexural strength matching that of permanent restorations at 154 MPa. It is 70% harder than traditional crown materials. Because of this, both the dentist and the patient are saving time and costs.
Reason 3: Time Savings Via Endless Indications
Simplicity is the key to time savings. With Luxatemp Ultra, you have the option of fabricating temporary crowns, bridges, inlays, onlays, partial crowns, and veneers. The word ‘temporary’ can be challenging for everyone involved in treatment to accept because it implies a level of unpredictability that may lead to expensive downstream issues. But with LuxaCrown and Luxatemp Ultra, these worries evaporate because the materials have been validated and extensively tested to achieve ideal mechanical properties for a multitude of indications.
When adding to your essential armamentarium, it is critical to consider the versatility of your tools and materials. This is especially beneficial in providing support to dental assistants. They will feel more confident knowing your materials selections can be applied to multiple different scenarios in the practice. Thus, the entire workflow achieves greater efficiency and simplicity. Your dental team can relax knowing they only have to select from a few key materials to achieve consistent results.
Reason 4: Advanced Technology and Efficient Chemistry
Proprietary nanotechnology makes all of these benefits possible and ensures that Luxatemp Ultra can reach its final hardness quicker. Plus, Luxatemp Ultra has six different shades to choose from depending on the situation. Once you start working with it, you will love how fast and easy it is to use for a precise fit. Luxatemp Ultra was designed to have optimal flow characteristics; it cuts and handles like a dream and cures quickly.
Luxatemp Ultra even pairs well with Automix and Smartmix systems so that mixing and application processes are made as efficient as possible. In less than a minute, the material can be inserted in the mouth. Between 1.3 and 2.2 minutes, it can be removed from the mouth, and it finishes setting at five minutes. Put all that together and you are looking at the ability to limit chair time so patients can get back to their lives as quickly as possible. LuxaCrown builds upon these incredible properties with effective chemistry that makes chairside handling a dream. A single Automix cartridge for LuxaCrown can produce up to 36 single crowns. The material can be manipulated easily for a precise trim and smooth contour.
Reason 5: Lifelike Esthetics Transform Patient Outcomes
Luxatemp Ultra has added fluorescence that provides outstanding esthetics in every one of its many applications. Fluorescence is that difficult-to-replicate quality that helps provisionals resemble and disguise as natural teeth. Matching this feature is the additional benefit of long-term color stability so that the temporary does not start to look less and less like the surrounding natural teeth over time. So not only will you have stable temporaries, but you will also have ones that delight patients with their perfect camouflaged appearance and affordability. LuxaCrown is ready to take over as soon as a more permanent restoration is called for. It can be leveraged in a variety of scenarios, from pediatric cases and implant cases to cosmetic restorative cases and challenging restorative situations. LuxaCrown is similar to Luxatemp Ultra in that it is exceedingly color stable and is characterized by natural fluorescence. This is crucial since it can last for years and years without breaking. It also provides excellent polishability, a helpful feature for getting that extra smoothness that will keep patients from noticing the restoration.
With five shades to choose from, every patient will have the ability to rely on a durable and beautiful interim as they await their final restoration. Preservation of healthy dentition and maximum esthetics are aligned in a single chairside session when dentists utilize LuxaCrown.
Phased treatment for crown and bridge cases is a reliable possibility when the dental practice has both Luxatemp Ultra and LuxaCrown immediately available. The tricky demands of complicated restorations and elevated patient expectations can be managed effectively with these materials side by side in the so-called dental ‘toolbox.’ Exceptional results are much easier to achieve when consistency can be reached easily using a few choice materials. Achieve dental practice excellence with ease using temporary and long-lasting restorations from Luxatemp Ultra and LuxaCrown that contribute function and esthetics alongside a dentist’s honed skillset.