An Esthetic Temp Material that Stands the Test of Time

A few years ago, Dr. Karen Guo, a general dentist in Red Hill, PA, discovered a better material for temporary restorations than she’d used before. Testing Visalys Temp from Kettenbach Dental for a Dental Product Shopper product review, she lauded the product for its esthetics and adaptation, but most notably for its durability.

In the past, she would spend time remaking or recementing provisionals, an inconvenience for patients and a waste of chair time, so she was pleased to find that Visalys Temp held up well, even during the COVID pandemic when crown deliveries were delayed up to 4 or 5 weeks after preps. Thanks to its resilience, Visalys Temp remains a staple in Dr. Guo’s office today.

The multifunctional acrylic composite is designed to produce stable, fracture-resistant temporary crowns, partial crowns, bridges, inlays, onlays, and veneers. Due to its particularly high impact, flexural, and diametrical tensile strength, as well as elastic modulus, the material can be used for shortand long-term temporaries.

Overcoming Fracture Concerns

Fractures are always a concern with bridges since patients might be wearing them for a while. Dr. Guo found that other materials intended for long-term temporaries showed wear, including perforations or fractures, requiring more chair time to fix.

While treating past cases like these with regular acrylics, she also experienced significant shrinkage, resulting in fit challenges and marginal discrepancies. Additionally, she found that the handling of other temporary materials was too soft, and the working time too long,

adding to the challenges in some cases. Dr. Guo likes how Visalys Temp wears and polishes more than other temporary products. In fact, the hard-wearing property of Visalys Temp remains Dr. Guo’s favorite feature. She doesn’t worry about fractures between the connectors when she uses it. However, besides the wearability, durability, and fracture resistance that make it appropriate for anterior bridgework, she has other reasons for reaching for Visalys Temp over other temporary products.

Practical and Esthetic Advantages

“We also have to consider the esthetic demands that an anterior restoration requires. It really fits that bill, too,” Dr. Guo said. The product provides a chameleon effect due to its tooth-like translucence and opalescence.

Visalys Temp also blends well with flowable composite in anterior cases. Dr. Guo can get a natural, translucent look with a gradient of color without having to use prefabricated temporaries. She noted that this is also a win for patients because they don’t have to pay for lab fees to fabricate pre-made temporaries.

“And also,” Dr. Guo said, “they don’t have to wear an ugly anterior restoration for the 3 or 4 weeks it takes for the final restoration to be made.”

Another advantage is that when trimming margins with an acrylic bur on a Visalys Temp provisional, the material is less likely to flake off, which means fewer in-operatory remakes, Dr. Guo pointed out. Plus, predictable provisional fabrication in the operatory prevents patients from losing confidence in clinicians’ ability to get it right the first time.

Dr. Guo has learned a few things in her experience with Visalys Temp. She noted that it sets quickly, so clinicians should be careful to tease it in and out when it’s still in the gel phase so that it doesn’t catch on any undercuts in the prep.

“Having a dependable provisional material improves quality of care and increases patient confidence in your ability to deliver exceptional dentistry,” Dr. Guo said. “I absolutely would recommend Visalys Temp to colleagues.”

Learn more about Visalys Temp here.