Better Together, Faster Chairside, Safer by Science

When this year's Readers' Choice ballots were tallied, one company appeared in more winning categories than any other: Dentsply Sirona. Spanning restorative, hygiene, endodontics, and digital dentistry, these winning products are expertly engineered to deliver real clinical results.

How? First, a commitment to customer-centric solutions—products built not as standalone tools but as connected workflows, whether that's TPH Spectra ST and SDR flow+ streamlining the Class II procedure or Cavitron and Nupro powering a more efficient hygiene appointment.

Second is science-based innovation, reflected in Dentsply Sirona's position as a trusted endodontic partner, with the new Reciproc Minima file and cordless X-Smart Go motor simplifying even complex canal work.

And third is technology that makes single-visit dentistry a daily reality, with the Primescan 2, CEREC Primemill, and CEREC Cercon 4D Abutment Block carrying a case from scan to implant restoration without a second appointment. 

Together, these wins tell a single story: When products are designed to work as a system, clinicians and patients both come out ahead.

SDR flow+ and TPH Spectra ST: A 'Winning' Class II Solution

For all their frequency, Class II restorations are often tedious and technique-sensitive. Dentsply Sirona's answer is the Class II Restorative Solution—a complete approach designed to bring efficiency and predictability to every stage from preparation through finishing. 

Two of this year's Readers' Choice winners, SDR flow+ bulk-fill flowable and TPH Spectra ST universal composite, sit at the center of that workflow as the base-and-occlusal pairing that does the restorative heavy lifting.

"I have been using SDR flow+ and TPH Spectra ST for over 5 years,” said Dr. Lawrence Brent, who owns Brent Dental Arts in Cranbury, NJ. “I love both these materials; they work beautifully in tandem for direct restorations and look great on radiographs."

A bulk-fill flowable that combines self-leveling properties with low shrinkage stress, SDR flow+ can be placed up to 4 mm and is designed to adapt to cavity walls without pulling away from the tooth. Dr. Brent has seen it firsthand: "SDR flow+ is self-leveling, so it fills the proximal boxes and cavity floor beautifully."

For the occlusal layer, TPH Spectra ST brings the esthetics. Built on SphereTEC filler technology, its A2 shade matches roughly 80% of cases through a chameleon blending effect, simplifying shade selection while delivering durability and stain resistance. 

"TPH Spectra ST handles nicely, has a nice way of blending with existing tooth structure for excellent clinical color matching, and polishes nicely," Dr. Brent said. "It holds up well and is rather stain resistant."

That performance lets him streamline his material choices. "The blending ability and metamerism allow for excellent esthetic results with fewer material choices. I don't find it necessary to use both dentin and enamel composite shades to achieve excellent anterior results, and the strength in the posterior is also excellent."

In his hands, the pairing fits neatly into his traditional Class II sequence—selective etching, an application of Dentsply Sirona's Prime&Bond adhesive, an initial layer of SDR flow+, a single layer of TPH Spectra ST sculpted and cured with a matrix in place, and then a finish with fine diamonds and Enhance discs and points.

"This combination has given me excellent long-term results, minimal marginal staining, improved wear resistance, and fewer needs to repair," Dr. Brent said, adding that consistency is reason enough to stay the course. "When I find an excellent product that helps me to achieve good clinical outcomes, I am very hesitant to change to something else for the sake of changing."

Reciproc and X-Smart: A Perfect Match for Any Canal

The Reciproc family was built around a simple idea—true 1-file endo—with noncutting tips, S-shaped cross-sections, and radiopaque calibration rings for easy visibility. Reciproc Blue introduced blue heat-treated NiTi for improved centering and reduced canal transportation, and its "no glidepath" concept makes it especially effective for retreatments.

Endodontist Dr. Reid Pullen was skeptical until he tried it. 

"They told me this is one of the coolest, craziest file shaping systems you'll ever use, and they were right," he said. "When you perform endodontics or do a root canal, you usually need 4 or 5 different files to get down to length. Now,

a lot of times I can just use Reciproc Blue—I don't even need a hand file." His verdict on the experience: "Endo is hard, root canals are hard, and this just makes the process easy."

For Dr. Beth Damas, the payoff shows up most in retreatments.

"I see the greatest benefit when incorporating this system into my retreatment protocols because I am no longer flipping back and forth between multiple file systems for the same tooth," she said. "Patients often leave my office saying the retreatment procedure actually took less time than the original root canal. I will take that as a win!"

The Latest File: Reciproc Minima

Now, Reciproc Blue is joined by Reciproc Minima, a slim, agile, next-generation file engineered to navigate narrow and challenging canals. 

Built for precision and control, it extends the family's 1-file philosophy into cases that have long demanded extra instruments—giving clinicians a purpose-built option using a workflow they already know and love.

The Newest Motor: X-Smart Go

Powering it all is the X-Smart Go, a cordless endo motor that follows in the footsteps of the X-Smart Pro+ and is engineered to maximize the performance of Dentsply Sirona files in both rotary and reciprocating motion.

An easy-to-use preset instrument library streamlines setup, and when used with the power bank cradle, the motor delivers 3 days of battery life for freedom of movement at the dental chair.

Like the X-Smart Pro+, the X-Smart Go offers integrated real-time apex location, letting clinicians define a working length and receive visual and auditory alerts when the file tip reaches the selected point in the canal.

"I was amazed this file could advance down the canal even without the use of a hand file, and the motor with the combined shaping and apex locator tells you when you get to the apex," Dr. Pullen said.

Together, Reciproc and X-Smart create a streamlined approach to canal preparation.

 The DS Core Workflow: Primed for Success

The digital journey begins with Primescan 2, the first cloud-native intraoral scanning solution, which captures high-quality scans from any connected device and is powered by the DS Core cloud platform. 

For Dr. Melonie MacDonald, the scanner has become central to how she educates patients. "My team and I quickly realized how powerful it was to show patients their scans to facilitate patient education, codiscovery, and treatment acceptance," she said.

It Starts with the Scan

What sets Primescan 2 apart, she added, is how it puts a single scan to work across the practice.

"With Primescan 2, we save time and maximize efficiency by leveraging a patient's initial status scan in multiple ways—whether submitting an orthodontic case through SureSmile, milling a restoration with CEREC Primemill, 3D-printing a custom nightguard using Primeprint, or sending a case to a commercial lab," she shared, noting the scan also "becomes a permanent patient record that's securely stored on the DS Core platform."

That cloud connection ties everything together. "We love how effortless it is scanning directly into DS Core," Dr. MacDonald said. "All of our workhorse software lives in the cloud, and having all these massive digital files stored in one place is incredible."

Milled in Minutes

Where the scan ends, the mill begins. Suitable for crowns, inlays, onlays, veneers, bridges, abutments, and surgical guides, the CEREC Primemill has reshaped same-day dentistry for Dr. Kirsten Andrews of Devils Lake, ND.

"This machine is my workhorse—it's changed the way I do dentistry," she said.

Speed is a big part of the story. "With CEREC Primemill, I can mill a crown in just 4 minutes," Dr. Andrews said. "It's rewarding to hear a patient tell me, 'I can't believe you did this in 1 day and I don't have to come back!'" She uses it for nearly everything: "I mill crowns, bridges, onlays, and inlays. I'm no longer fighting with a Tofflemire around a tooth to achieve that composite anatomy...the margins are so precise, and it gives me a reliable, consistent, and superior product."

The payoff goes beyond the operatory. "Our production has gone up because patients talk, and potential patients want the same thing—a crown in the same day," she said. "So, it has built my practice."

A Block Built for Implants

Completing the workflow is the CEREC Cercon 4D Abutment Block, the world's first esthetic CAD/CAM zirconia meso block, indicated for both hybrid abutments and hybrid abutment crowns.

With strength greater than 1,100 MPa, it allows wall thickness down to 0.5 mm, and it pairs with Calibra Abutment Resin Cement, a fast-setting, ultra-opaque material designed to block substrate show-through.

Dr. Brett Titensor of Flower Mound, TX, calls the duo a perfect match.

"Anytime we're working with implants and a titanium base, we have to always block out that darker color of the base, so it's critical that we use an opaque cement that can do that effectively," he said. "For me, that's the reason why these 2 new products work so well together."

He's equally sold on the material processing step. "It's a strong material that can easily be milled in minutes on extra-fine mode, and it comes out with minimal post-processing," Dr. Titensor said. "I can definitely see myself pivoting toward a same-day implant crown workflow with this material, and anytime I can eliminate appointments for patients, they're happy, which makes me happy!"