Placement Aids

Transferring restorations from the treatment room working area to the mouth for cementation can be tricky. The last thing you want to happen is to drop the restoration — definitely doesn't inspire confidence in the patient and can affect the entire procedure if you have already applied the adhesive, since delay in seating a restoration after adhesive application has been found to negatively affect bond strength significantly. Therefore, this type of interruption is more than just an inconvenience or a nuisance.

These are simple instruments that, besides transferring restorations, are used to hold restorations during preparatory procedures, such as applying silane, adhesives, and cement to the inside of restorations prior to seating. They typically consist of a plastic handle with some type of sticky material on the head to adhere to the restoration.

Holding Power Test

We tested the ultimate strength of these products using glass slides stacked one on top of each other until the instrument was no longer able to pick them up. Glass slides were chosen, since the glass surface mimics a highly glazed ceramic restoration. The test was done with the glass dry and then repeated with the glass coated slightly with saliva. The results on dry glass are listed in the commentary for each product. None of the instruments would hold the wet glass.