The problem that Dr. John Newland faced when using bulk fill materials was their translucency. Even though the translucency allowed him to cure all the way to the bottom of a restoration, the result was not always esthetic— especially for patients with stains from existing silver fillings.
“If a large alloy is being replaced, the remaining stained dentin can show through the restoration,” he said. “That is not an esthetic success.”
Enter Bulk EZ from Danville, which has become Dr. Newland’s go-to material for large restorations and buildups. It was designed to combat the common limitations of bulk fills—such as gap formation and stress from rapid curing. Bulk EZ’s dual-cure material is easy to place, compatible with modern bonding agents, and has an unlimited depth of cure.
“I’ve found the material easy to handle both as a primary restorative material as well as a core material. It takes approximately 1 and a half minutes to set, and then remains esthetic and easy to shape,” said Dr. Newland.
Bulk EZ has also allowed Dr. Newland to effectively treat more of his patients. After discovering that some patients who needed crowns or other indirect restorations were holding off on treatment because of financial constraints, he found that Bulk EZ was a cost-effective solution.
“Bulk EZ has allowed me to restore these kinds of teeth with a high degree of confidence in the restoration,” he said.
The material’s self-cure, patent-pending IntelliTek Technology is what controls and directs shrinkage toward the bottom of the restoration, preventing voids and eliminating leakage in posterior restorations. Best of all, there’s no need to light-cure multiple layers of material. That means polymerization occurs toward the preparation walls instead of toward the curing light.
“It’s almost a bulk fill as a self-cure,” observed Dr. Newland. “So, you put it in and feed it all the way to the bottom, and then give it a minute and a half to set before light-curing the exterior portion.”
