In-office milling requires a lot of chair time, with more time needed when dentists seat the restoration on the same day. We need to consider not only the time it takes to mill the product, but also for some materials, the time needed for a secondary fi ring process to create crystallization. This can extend a typical 1-hour appointment up to 2 hours.
Grandio blocs offers a significant advantage in this regard. Compatible with most conventional milling units, it provides all the physical benefits of a hybrid resin while delivering the polishability and luster of a glass restoration—all without a fi ring step. When combined with its short milling time, we are able to get patients in and out in under an hour.
Flexibility and Versatility
Another factor to consider is reducing the risk for potential failures. With other materials, if there was a shade discrepancy in the restoration, we would have to mill and fi re all over again. Grandio blocs provides a highly filled glass structure with 86% filler content, which means not only do I save time, but I also never need to compromise on esthetics.
It also has excellent elasticity, so it can be used for crowns, inlays, onlays, and implant-supported crowns, the latter of which I find to be a beautiful indication for this material. With implants having no periodontal ligament to absorb stress, the flexural strength of Grandio blocs offers a forgiving restoration in an unforgiving environment. With that, we see fewer failures, and we can mill the restoration right after seating the abutment in the same appointment, which our patients absolutely love.
In our practices, we most frequently use Grandio blocs for onlays. We generally see a high failure rate with large resins due to microleakage, shrinkage, and structural compromise. Helping solve these common problems quickly has made this material an ideal solution, and we also get a terrific bond. To date, we still haven’t seen one of these onlays debond.
Consistently Seamless Restorations
I love that there are 11 shade options with Grandio blocs, so I've never gotten into a situation where I couldn’t use it because of an off shade. It is very color stable, too. There are a lot of resin products that don’t offer this level of color stability, so they might look good the day you put them in, but when the patient comes back for recalls, you may wonder what you were thinking! With Grandio blocs, the shade and luster remain stable for years of service.
Offering patients a long-term solution in just one appointment is often the tipping point for them to say, "Yeah, let’s go ahead and do the restoration." We can do it in virtually the same amount of time that a large resin filling would take, and with outstanding results that increase predictability and profitability.
