How dentists can save time with STELLAR DC Acrylic

STELLAR DC Acrylic, a dual-cure resin developed by TAUB Products, hasn’t been on the market that long, but Dr. Zachary Sonkin has used it in his office, Sonkin Dental in Elmont, New York, on a daily basis for more than six months. Dr. Sonkin has incorporated it into his armamentarium for implant work, along with GoCHx™ Gel, Liquid Magic™ Resin Barrier, and Zero-G™ Bio-Implant Cement, three other products manufactured by TAUB Products.

STELLAR DC Acrylic “will save the dentist and lab technician procedural time per application when creating copings, implant verification jigs, implant seating jigs, indexes, soldering and many other procedures,” says Jordan Taub, vice president of TAUB Products. “This will give billable hours back to the doctor or CDT. Depending on the procedure, one application could pay for STELLAR just by the time saved during that procedure."

The dual-cure acrylic resin gives instant mixing and use, can tack cure in five seconds, and fully light cure within 20 seconds using LED curing lights. It will also cure on its own after one minute.

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“There is no manual mixing and waiting for the material to thicken before use, unlike a cold cure acrylic liquid/powder mix,” Taub explains. “Just express the resin out of the syringe and through a special automix tip, tack cure and build. The acrylic will be set in 60 seconds or less.”

Taub says STELLAR DC Acrylic uses specific set times for light cure and dual cure, offering speed without compromising accuracy or integrity.

“There is no polymerization heat, no shrinkage, and it burns out clean and completely,” he says.  “Apply heat via hot water for a few minutes and STELLAR becomes extremely durable.”

“It’s not exothermic. It’s a dual-cure material that allows for easy buildup when addition is needed,” Dr. Sonkin says. “It cuts and trims very easily and polishes very well. My laboratory has been very pleased with the clean way that it burns out during fabrication.”

Other benefits include using the material for the fabrication of solder indexes.

“In this application, the material works very well, as it easily flows into the small spaces between a sectioned metal framework,” Dr. Sonkin explains. “The material allows for it to be added to itself, when you need to increase the amount of the material.”

Dr. Sonkin says he also uses the resin to quickly fabricate pick-up impression copings for crown and bridge work, which is an example of how he saves time using the product.

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“Certain procedures may take 15 minutes or more to build and layer with traditional materials, and there was always a lot of acrylic waste,” Taub says. “With our chemistry, we knew that a 15-minute procedure could take three minutes or less.”

While STELLAR DC Acrylic has been useful in Dr. Sonkin’s dental practice, there’s still the matter of patient acceptance. Because there’s no polymerization heat, it’s better for patient comfort and it provides less chance of heat trauma to the pulp and surrounding gingival tissue. It also cuts down the patient’s chair time.

“My patients have reacted to STELLAR in a very positive way,” Dr. Sonkin says. “In those cases where I need to make an impromptu seating jig, the wait time for fabrication in-house is significantly less than with other products that I have used in the past. In addition, I would usually fabricate my verification jig prior to the patient’s appointment to allow for polymerization shrinkage, but with STELLAR, this wait time is no longer necessary.

“By instituting STELLAR’s use, it has not only saved me and my patients time, but it has provided a financial savings.”