Shade matching has always been difficult for me. Crowns and large fillings require so much nuance, because the surrounding tooth structure always possesses variability in shade, hue, chroma, opacity, etc. This small inconvenience becomes much larger to me as an educator, because I have a tendency to take close-up photos of random before and after cases, and it is always painful when that blown-up digital image looks a little off.
Numerous high-level and reputable dental manufacturers continue to introduce better, easy-to-handle, adaptable, and chemically superior options, which is great. However, until recently, there haven’t been many options in the arena of predictable shade matching. As clinicians, we regularly spend several minutes at the beginning of most direct composite procedures determining the proper shade and then keep our fingers crossed.
Kettenbach has long enjoyed a reputation in the industry for its incredibly high-rated and affordable impression materials. The company has also
Visalys Fill and Visalys Flow
Kettenbach Dental has created an expansion of its Visalys® family of composites with new Visalys Fill and Visalys Flow light-curing, radiopaque nano-hybrid filling materials. These materials are indicated for class I to VI fillings. There is a Flex Shade System within Fill and Flow that is said to offer enhanced esthetics through its VITA A1-D4 shade matching. It also offers a bleach shade and OA2 opaque shade for even more shade flexibility. Visalys Fill is designed with easy handling and modeling in mind, whereas Visalys Flow contains a low viscosity that allows for good wetting and adaptation to cavity walls. It is also suitable for anterior and posterior restorations. Both Fill and Flow are comprised of high inorganic filler content, which is said to result in high flexural strength. Combining these mechanical properties with its Flex Shade System, Kettenbach aims to offer a highly durable and esthetic filling material.
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become an industry leader in certain restorative products, including dual-cure resin cements, core buildup material, temporary material, etc.
Most recently, Kettenbach has introduced a composite restorative material intended to be used as a daily material of choice for direct resin applications. The feature that makes it unique is the convenience it claims to provide in terms of shade matching.
Introducing Visalys Flow and Fill
The Kettenbach Visalys Flow and Fill composite restoration materials are both nano-hybrid filling materials and therefore possess the microscopic criteria needed to compete with the current highest-rated composites on the market. What allegedly sets them apart, however, is their Flex Shade System, which allows these composites to match the 16 traditional composite shades with only 5 available shades.
Members of the Catapult Education product review board were asked to rate this composite in terms of the following characteristics:
- Overall handling
- Viscosity
- Nonstickiness
- Surface gloss
- Optical characteristic
- Translucency
- Ease of adapting
- Adherence to instrument
- Carvability (ease of shaping)
- Resistance to slumping
- Perception of shrinkage
- Radiopacity
- Color matching
- Polishability
- Shade selection
- Delivery system
No respondents (there were 17 evaluators in total) gave the Kettenbach Visalys Flow and Visalys Fill a response of “not satisfied” for even 1 of the
above categories. The 2 evaluative criteria with the lowest scores were surface gloss and translucency. These criteria, however, still possessed an average overall evaluation score higher than 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest score). Survey respondents were most impressed with the adherence to instrument, perception of shrinkage, radiopacity, and delivery system.
Some of the comments included the following:
- “An excellent composite. In a new generation of composites, this is one of the best!”
- “Matching color was better in posterior; if tooth was thin in the anterior it was a little too translucent.”
The flowable material was also evaluated based on the preceding criteria.
Again, no survey respondents marked “not satisfied” with any of the preceding criteria. The criterion with the lowest score was resistance to slumping, which also received an average score above 4. One evaluator, an endodontist, responded, “Visalys Flow encompasses everything I would desire in a composite restoration to restore endodontic accesses. It handles well, is capable [of] reconstructing occlusal anatomy, is sufficiently opaque, and blends with the shade of the existing crown better than any other composite I have used in the past.”
Stand Out Shade System
Although most survey respondents reported high overall satisfaction marks in describing their experience with Visalys Fill and Visalys Flow, the majority indicated that their experience with both products was neither better nor worse than their current composite restorative material of choice.
What set these products apart from others was the shade-simplifying feature, called the Flex Shade System, which claims to blend harmoniously with the cavity because of the chameleon effect for all 16 VITA shades with just 5 shades. Seventy-one percentof respondents reported a good to excellent impression with the shade matching.
In order to attain the Catapult Vote of Confidence, standard criteria must be met. These criteria require that more than 90% of survey respondents must: have very good/excellent experience using the product. Every survey respondent reported that they would recommend Visalys Fill to a colleague.
Catapult evaluates 15 to 20 dental products and materials every year. It is very rare for a product to achieve a 100% rating from every participant when asked whether they would recommend a product. I have been pleased with my experience with other Kettenbach Visalys products, and it is with no doubt that I intend to continue using this innovative restorative option in my practice.
