VisCalor bulk

John Flucke, DDS

Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, Dr. Flucke received his dental degree as well as a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1987. Dr. Flucke is the technology editor of Dental Products Report, past president of the Greater Kansas City Dental Society, and serves as the Missouri State Peer Review Chairman. He is currently in private practice in Lee's Summit, MO.

VisCalor bulk

Innovative bulk-fill composite material designed to be heated reduces procedural steps and increases efficiency for better restorations

After using warmed composite to fill the bulk of his restorations for the past 15 years, Dr. John Flucke was intrigued to try something new--VOCO's VisCalor bulk, a unique material designed specifically to be heated. He wasn't disappointed. Here, he shares what makes VisCalor bulk a "disruptor technology" that increases efficiency by achieveing the perfect balance between a flowable and a scultptable.

Clinical success in adhesive dentistry depends on maintaining the field. The longer a pro-cedure takes, the more

 problems that can creep into the equation. VisCalor bulk, when properly warmed, is soft and easy to place, which means that initial basing layers like flowables or glass ionomers are not needed. This reduces the number of steps in the process and increases efficiency, all while providing a better restoration. Faster and better are hard to beat.

Groundbreaking Technology

VisCalor bulk is the first composite designed from the ground up to be heated. VOCO scientists created a completely new monomer system for the material. It has a lower melting point and a different chemical structure than other composites. The filler has a new silane coating that employs what VOCO refers to as thermo-viscous technology (TVT). This forms a heat-adjustable affinity to the resin matrix, which allows it to undergo a drop in viscosity when warmed.

Delivering a warmed composite is easy, but VisCalor bulk's drop in viscosity creates a consistency similar to soft-serve ice cream—allowing it to fully adapt to all areas of the preparation easily without the need for base layers. As the material quickly cools, it goes through a phase change, and the viscosity shifts to what I call “cake icing.” It is not sticky and is easy to sculpt with your instrument of choice.  

Superior Esthetics 

In terms of the posterior, I’ve not worked with a 
more esthetic material. VisCalor bulk matches the surrounding tooth structure tremendously well—and with only 4 shades. When we show patients their final images on the monitor, they are often hard-pressed to find where the work has been done.

Once, I had a patient in for a couple of Class II restorations. We shade-matched them before the prep and determined them to be A2. When we finished the preps and were getting ready to restore, I realized too late that we were out of A2. I thought to myself, “A1 isn’t that far away, I’ll use that.” I was also fortunate because they were posterior restorations and weren’t going to show much anyway.

I placed VisCalor bulk in A1 and as it cured, I was shocked to find that it matched so well that I could hardly find the margins. My point is that if the material matches that well when it’s the wrong shade, imagine how good it looks when you use the correct shade. 

Doctors truly need to try VisCalor bulk. Once they have seen the difference in their own hands, they'll understand why I’m reaching for it more and more. We’ve seen many scientific changes in composites lately, but what VisCalor bulk offers is nothing short of revolutionary. This is a true disruptor technology.