Composite in Everyday Practice: How to Choose the Right Material and Simplify Application Techniques in the Anterior Teeth

In daily practice, composites are the materials most commonly used for restorative dentistry. They are used for preventive seals, microinvasive restorations, build-ups and complex direct and indirect restorations in posterior sections. Indeed, it is in the anterior sections that composites have traditionally been used to the greatest effect, enabling clinicians to carry out complex restorations using direct techniques with notable esthetic and clinical results. Recent product developments combined with clinical research on stratification make it now possible to utilize new composites that have excellent opalescence and fluorescence characteristics and provide an excellent color range to choose from.1,2 It is however, a common complaint among clinicians that the layering techniques are rather complex and it is difficult to make the right color choice. Paradoxically, they say that the appearance on the market of sophisticated materials, designed to give ever better results in the medium and long term, only makes it more difficult to make the correct decision. Indeed, many of these colleagues, after the first buzz of enthusiasm, give up on the layering technique and opt for materials which they say are more simple or "mimetic." In the present article, the authors will discuss these topics and make suggestions on how to acheive high quality results every day, both from an esthetic and clinical point of view. However, predictability of the results is more important, as predictability provides advantages in terms of the quality of work and economy for clinicians and patients.