Speeding Up Your Composite Veneers
Regardless of practitioner skill level and case complexity, the innovative 3M Filtek Matrix provides a fast, predictable path toward esthetic anterior restorations
Recent years have seen demand for esthetic dentistry increase dramatically, partly driven by the rise of social media. Just take a casual scroll through any number of dental hashtags on apps like Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, and you’ll quickly discover how ubiquitous cosmetic treatments like veneers have become.
“You regularly see dentists posting their high-end, esthetic cases on social media, and they’re beautiful,” shared Dr. Augusto A. Robles. Even celebrities and influencers have begun showcasing their dental work on these platforms, with some walking followers through their entire smile makeover. Given these trends, it’s likely that the ability to provide esthetic restorations will become a metric more and more patients rely on when choosing a dental provider.
3M Filtek Matrix to the Rescue
It’s easy to see how the benefits of creating picture-perfect dental restorations would entice any clinician, but the traditional path to delivering them is far from simple. “If you’re a general dentist and want to do larger esthetic cases, you typically need to go through training to elevate your skills. There’s a big learning curve,” explained Dr. Robles. Often, the commitment required can be daunting—if not altogether dissuading.
A new anterior restorative solution from 3M, however, provides dentists of all skill levels a faster, simpler route to taking on everything from straightforward to complex esthetic cases right away. “With the 3M Filtek Matrix, the contours, the shape, the design of the smile—it’s all done for you and becomes very predictable to obtain,” Dr. Robles said. “It takes away the fear of not being able to deliver the beautiful esthetic restorations you’ve seen on social media, and instead empowers you to achieve a higher quality of dentistry for your patients.”
“It takes away the fear of not being able to deliver the beautiful esthetic restorations you’ve seen on social media, and instead empowers you to achieve a higher quality of dentistry for your patients.”
—Augusto A. Robles, DDS, MS, DMD
How It Works
From single diastema closures to multiple composite veneers, the 3M Filtek Matrix offers a streamlined digital workflow designed to maximize efficiency and minimize chair time. Typically, the process requires just 2 patient appointments. During the first, you’ll capture a scan or impression and photos of your patient’s teeth, which are then submitted to 3M via the web-based 3M Oral Care Portal.
From there, 3M will use your digital prescription to design a custom, 3D-printed Filtek Matrix. Once approved, it will be delivered to you within 2 weeks. At the second appointment, use the 3M Filtek Matrix and clinically proven 3M Filtek composites to transform your patient’s smile.
High-Quality Esthetics for All
After trialing an early version of the Filtek Matrix at 3M’s request, it took no time at all for Dr. Robles to start “using it everywhere.” As the director of operative dentistry curriculum at the University of Alabama (UAB) School of Dentistry, he then leveraged his teaching skills to develop the clinical curriculum for using the Filtek Matrix. “I realized that this is a product that can simplify and speed up the process of doing composite veneers in a way that facilitates skill development,” he said. “If you’re a practitioner concerned about your skill level and maybe a little shy about doing bigger cosmetic cases, now you don’t have to worry about employing the perfect technique for shape or contours—the matrix makes the entire process super easy.”
So easy that, after a few successful procedures, Dr. Robles felt confident he could test the 3M Filtek Matrix with one of his UAB students. “As a first-time user, he did a series of 6 composite veneers and finished in 2 and 1/2 hours,” he shared. “The takeaway here is that with this product, you don’t have to be a super talented or skilled dentist to develop and deliver high-quality, esthetic dentistry.
“The beauty of this matrix,” Dr. Robles continued, “is that because it’s designed digitally, it fits perfectly and remains stable once it’s in place. This makes procedures very predictable.” He also noted that, thanks to the Filtek Matrix’s non-adhesive properties, clinicians don’t need to worry about composite sticking to the matrix and interfering with procedures. “Once you place the composite, simply remove the matrix, take off the excess, polish, and you’re done.”
Cut Costs & Chair Time
Unlike conventional approaches to large or complex esthetic cases that can eat up an entire workday, with the 3M Filtek Matrix a clinician will have finished the case “in 2 or 3 hours max,” Dr. Robles said. 3M also assures that the Filtek Matrix procedure is more conservative and less costly than alternative treatments, such as traditional veneers, making it an attractive option to both clinicians and their patients.
Build Comfort and Confidence
As with any new procedure, Dr. Robles advises that it’s best to “start small” and “master the basics.” But given this solution’s minimal learning curve and help from the 3M Filtek Matrix Training Kit, which is designed to familiarize you with the process and build your technique using in vitro cases, clinicians can achieve exceptional esthetic results in no time. “I’ve been doing composite veneers for almost 30 years,” Dr. Robles added. “So, I am very comfortable with the traditional way. But after using the 3M Filtek Matrix, I can see myself defaulting to this procedure—it just makes everything so easy and fast.”
