WedgeGuard’s wedge remains in place throughout interpromixal cavity cutting, eliminating the need to slow down and reducing the risk of gingival trauma.
Triodent’s WedgeGuard is designed to prevent damage to the adjacent tooth and papillae when cutting an interproximal cavity, enabling faster and better preps. Like other guards, it keeps the bur from nicking the adjacent tooth. What makes WedgeGuard unique is what happens after cavity prep; the wedge stays in place after the shield is detached, minimizing gingival trauma.
WedgeGuard is ideal for class II and III cavities, veneers and crowns, and tunnel preps. It comes in small, medium and large sizes.
The 14 dentists who evaluated WedgeGuard rated it for such features as ease of use and protection of the gingival papillae and adjacent teeth.
Ease of Use
According to the manufacturer, WedgeGuard eliminates the need to slow down, even when breaking the contact. After cavity, prep the wedge remains in place, ready for adjacent insertion of the matrix and ensuring a cleaner working area by preventing reactive hyperaemia.
Ease of use was rated as excellent by 6 evaluators, as very good by 1, as good by 3, and as fair by 2. Time savings was rated as excellent by 5 evaluators, as very good to good by 6, and as fair by 1.
A dentist who rated all features as excellent said the forceps “could have held the wedge more tightly.” Six evaluators reported placement-related issues, such as “difficulty in tight contact areas.” An evaluator who said he would definitely purchase the system said, “my only reservation was when using it near crowns.With broad, flat contacts it was much harder to insert between the teeth. Adapting it to smaller wedges took too much time.” This same evaluator suggested having a few smaller wedges for tight contacts or flat contacts for crowns.
Three other evaluators suggested additional sizes and 2 suggested combining the WedgeGuard in a set with the matrix. One dentist said that he “wasn’t sure procedure speed would be increased in the hands of an experienced dentist.” Eight dentists cited ease of use or placement as the feature they liked the most, with comments including “simple to use, convenient, and works well” and “extremely easy to place anywhere in the mouth.”
One of these evaluators “didn’t expect it to go between tight contacts as easily as it did,” and added “It was a pleasant surprise.” A dentist who gave it an overall rating of excellent said, “WedgeGuard was easy to use and allowed me to work quickly and efficiently.”
Protection of Gingival Papillae
Because the WedgeGuard wedge remains in place throughout the procedure, gingival trauma is minimized; the papillae is protected and gingival tags in the proximal box are averted.
When asked how well the system creates a gingival seal, 5 evaluators rated it as excellent, 4 rated it as very good, and 3 rated it as good. WedgeGuard’s ability to protect the gingival papillae was rated as excellent by 4 dentists, as very good by 4, as good by 3, and as fair by 1. One dentist “noticed some gingival trauma” and another, calling it much better than similar systems, described the wedges as “somewhat fragile,” adding that they “traumatized the gingival tissue.” A New Jersey dentist in practice for 24 years said it “avoids damage to the gingiva and the adjacent tooth.”
Protection of Adjacent Teeth
WedgeGuard’s ability to protect the adjacent tooth was rated as excellent by 7 evaluators, as very good by 3, and as good by 2. Of the 4 dentists who cited this as the feature they liked most, 1 said it “worked well to protect the adjacent tooth structure when it could go interproximally.”
Overall Satisfaction
Eight evaluators said they would definitely or probably purchase WedgeGuard and 11 would definitely or probably recommend it to colleagues. Overall satisfaction was rated as excellent by 4 evaluators, as very good by 5, as good by 2, and as fair by 1. One evaluator said, “I believe it doesn’t work on all teeth as compared to a matrix band,” though the manufacturer notes that this is only the case when the root structure is extremely tight.
Another said it was “an extremely interesting and useful product,” a third called it “fabulous,” and a fourth said it was “very innovative…nothing else compares.”
