Peter Gardell There has been discussion in the past about Lava Ultimate and reports of debonds. Since our reputation is what our offices are built upon we strive to deliver the best most predictable restoration to our patients. Lava Ultimate is one of the newer materials we have to use to treat our patients, so these reports can be very disturbing to those who have restored patients with it. Behind this material stands 3M, a company that has a long track record with dental success, developing materials that benefit us every day. They are so confident in this material that they offer a 10 year warranty on Lava Ultimate.
I have not done a lot of full coverage restorations with this material, I really like it for partial coverage where the HT blends in with the adjoining tooth. It has turned out to be a great alternative to hand stacking your composite of choice, very efficient way to restore quadrants.
This is something I ran into this past week. I made a Lava Ultimate to act as a temp for a tooth with a crack. The tooth was prepared and endo started, a Lava Ultimate was made and cemented with Scotchbond Universal and RelyX Ultimate. The tooth was asymptomatic for an extended period so the decision was made to complete the root canal and fabricate an e.max crown for the tooth. As I went to remove the Lava Ultimate, what I thought would be a fast and easy procedure, turned out to be more work. The material adhered to the tooth so well I had to prep the Lava Ultimate off.
After this I have the confidence that if you follow the manufacturers recommendations, Lava Ultimate is a great option for treating our patients and having long term success.
