Composite Margins: how do you get smoother transition?

[ichitaka86]

I mean I put bevels around all the cavosurface margins and I polish them all but can never get good enough transition (when I go over the margin with explorer I can FEEL the transition). What the heck am I doing wrong? What do you guys do any different that I'm not doing? Also what do you guys use for polishing? I hate composite 🙁🙁🙁

I also get voids in my composite.

I'm gonna start putting amalgam instead in anteriors. 🙁

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[reapply2007]

Ideas- Use an instrument to place the composite instead of the composite dispenser. Also, use wetting resin or adhesive on the instrument to keep the composite from sticking. If you have the money-buy teflon coated instruments. Pat the composite into place with your instrument to ensure it fills the prep. Also, use your instrument such as pfi or hollenback to smear the final layer of composite over the bevel with a feather layer margin across the bevel.

 

[Streetwolf]

Typodont teeth or real teeth? I found I had a more difficult time polishing the typodont teeth during pre-clinic but once I started working with real teeth it was a lot easier.

 

[DrJeff]

For probably 75% of my composite restorations I place (large class 4's being the exception to the following), pretty much the only "instrument" I use for placing/contouring uncured composite is my microbrush that is damp with bonding resin. In my hands atleast it really lets me work the composite to pretty darn close to the final contour easily and quickly. After curing, some minor contouring with various shaped high speed finishing diamonds and then a few passes with an extra fine sof-flex disc in my low speed followed by Shofu super-buff polishing cups and things are good and SMOOTH.

The key is finding something that works IN YOUR HANDS and then repeating over and over.

One of the best polishing tips, for me atleast, I heard in a CE course given by Dr Paul Belvedere (the owner of Cosmodent). #1 BEFORE YOU ETCH, have a 100% crystal clear mental image of where your cavosurface margins are #2 extend your etch area 1-2mm past the cavosurface margins wherever possible (obviously you can't really do this on the gingival floor of a box in a properly matrixed an wedged class 2restoration) #3 when placing your final layer of composite, make sure that you get that extended etched area past the cavosurface mrgin covered with a thin layer of composite) #4 final finishing of that area past the cavosurface margin should be done with sof-flex/sandpaper discs going FROM THE COMPOSITE TO THE ENAMEL - That's the biggie, finish from the composite to the enamel, not vise verse for smoother margins

 

[ichitaka86]

For probably 75% of my composite restorations I place (large class 4's being the exception to the following), pretty much the only "instrument" I use for placing/contouring uncured composite is my microbrush that is damp with bonding resin. In my hands atleast it really lets me work the composite to pretty darn close to the final contour easily and quickly. After curing, some minor contouring with various shaped high speed finishing diamonds and then a few passes with an extra fine sof-flex disc in my low speed followed by Shofu super-buff polishing cups and things are good and SMOOTH.

The key is finding something that works IN YOUR HANDS and then repeating over and over.

One of the best polishing tips, for me atleast, I heard in a CE course given by Dr Paul Belvedere (the owner of Cosmodent). #1 BEFORE YOU ETCH, have a 100% crystal clear mental image of where your cavosurface margins are #2 extend your etch area 1-2mm past the cavosurface margins wherever possible (obviously you can't really do this on the gingival floor of a box in a properly matrixed an wedged class 2restoration) #3 when placing your final layer of composite, make sure that you get that extended etched area past the cavosurface mrgin covered with a thin layer of composite) #4 final finishing of that area past the cavosurface margin should be done with sof-flex/sandpaper discs going FROM THE COMPOSITE TO THE ENAMEL - That's the biggie, finish from the composite to the enamel, not vise verse for smoother margins

Thanks for the reply DrJeff!

If there are too much bonding resin in the composite material, doesn't this weaken the composite thus the overall restoration?

Do you know why discs should be going from composite to enamel? I can kind of guess why but I'm not crystal clear.

Also sof-flex discs, are these same thing as rainbow discs?

I have a few classmates using brownie for polishing. It looks pretty good, is there any contraindications for using brownie for composite polishing?

I feel like a newb 😡. Maybe I am.