For nearly 50 years, dental professionals around the world have relied on 3M Dental Cements to keep their patients smiling. Their easy-to-use dental cements and accessories are formulated to provide strong, reliable bonds with excellent aesthetics and reduced post-op sensitivity for virtually any indirect restoration procedure.
What are Dental Cements?
Cementation is a key and fundamental part of dental treatment as it guarantees long-lasting prostheses and less invasive restorations. Some of the most important factors in cementation are bond strength, utility and simplicity.
Cements are materials that slide on surfaces and harden in a short time, achieving a high resistance. It’s very important to be able to achieve optimum retention, strength and sealing between the restorative material and the tooth.
Why are dental cements important?
Dental cements are important because they allow friction between the tooth and the restoration. When considering what cement best fits a tooth it is important to take into consideration each of their characteristics.
What are the advantages of 3M dental cements?
Over the years, 3M has evolved and developed a wide variety of cements depending on various indications, starting with products for temporary or permanent cementation. With the 3M range of cements, the number of steps and products are reduced.
Dentists must make sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions for each type of cement, in terms of mixing, using the correct ratios and subjecting it to the correct temperatures. There are five types of dental cement:
- Zinc-oxide eugenol
- Zinc phosphate
- Polycarboxylate
- Glass ionomer
- Composite resin
In this article, we’ll discuss in detail about theuses of 3m dental cements.
KetacCem Plus Automix
KetacCem Plus offers a highly developed dispensing formula, which is a glass ionomer with resin that contains all the advantages of an ionomer (high adhesion). This kind of cement helps avoid short sealing periods. Its simple and effective handling makes it a
favorite. It’s easy to remove with a light blow, its color is white between A1 and A2 and its Automix format with mixing tips generates the perfect mixture.
It has very high strength and is recommended to be applied in:
- Crowns
- Bridges
- Inlays
- Metal or porcelain inlays
- Endodontic posts and metal orthodontic materials
Some of the main features of this cement are:
- It can be mixed with paste easily
- It’s fortified with advanced technology
- It offers simple and hygienic handling
- It sets with a light blow, allowing removal of leftovers comfortably
The KetacCem Plus is easy to use and is also one of the most widely used glass ionomer cements in the world. It helps practitioner’s preserve the natural state of the tooth.
RelyXUnicem 2 Automix
RelyXUnicem 2 Automix is a self-adhesive resin cement. Its superior quality and performance make it easy to use. It is available in a Clicker dispenser or as an Automix Syringe. There have been several clinical studies that support the success offered by its cementation and the product has been on the market for 18 years.
A major advantage of this cement is that its Ph levels remains absolutely neutral, even after a long time.
Some of the main features of this cement are:
- Layer thickness of 13 µm
- Reduced color options
- Low degree of adhesion
- Ceramic can fragment due to water absorption
Due to the sheer force of the previous elements, this product is recommended to cement practically any restoration in the clinic with two exceptions –Veneers&Maryland Bridges. However, there are other 3M alternatives for these exceptions which we willdiscuss in detail in the next section below.
It is also possible to cement fiber posts or metal posts effortlessly by directly dispensing and filling the entire channel. All practitioners have to do is take the post to the right
place. If it’s a metal post, they will wait for the chemical setting reaction whereas in a fiber post they will need to wait for two and a half minutes and follow it up by 20 seconds of light.
RelyX Ultimate
The RelyX Ultimate dental cement is a classic resin cement with an industry-leading bond strength that requires fewer steps. Its main features include:
- Layer thickness of 12 µm
- Increased strength of the ceramic
- Shorter working time
- High wear resistance
- Color stability
- Leading initiator technology
- Natural fluorescence
On one side, as it is a classic resin, it can be used with all types of materials but the practitioner must always take into account previous adhesion protocol. Before using it, an adhesive like Scotchbond Universal must be used since the dental adhesives are of the light setting type and a second element is needed to convert them. With Scotchbond, the double-setting process is obtained because RelyX Ultimate contains chemical setting activator for Scotchbond Universal.
While on the other side, take note that this adhesive must be light cured, taking care of the prosthesis’ adjustments. It is not a good idea to light cure the adhesive on the tooth though as it would not cross the prosthesis, the cement or the adhesive. It is recommended to light-cure the adhesive on the tooth or use RelyX Ultimate which will cure the adhesive in both places and guarantee that there is no displacement. RelyX Ultimate shows maximum cementing strength with only one layer of cement for perfect prosthetics.
Good cementation means a job well done and a satisfied patient, which is why 3M has developed these products that have excellent bonding strength and high performance – from glass ionomers to resins and fiberglass posts.
Browse through all kinds of dental cements only at Noble Dental Supplies. We use our extensive knowledge in sourcing to bring dentists high-quality dental supplies across a wide range of categories that are 30-50% below the other name-brand dental supply products. We even offer free shipping for every order above $500!
