The trend in dentistry is moving to smaller and less invasive treatment. At the same time patients are becoming increasingly more conscious about their dental health and appearance.
Icon, from DMG, offers the opportunity to treat decay at its initial stage without the need for injections or drilling. Unsightly cervical staining can often be reduced or eliminated completely. Interdental decay can be halted in its early stages, without the need for occlusal access, which helps to preserve healthy tooth substance and improves the prognosis of the tooth. Icon also offers a quick and painless remedy for white and brown spot lesions after fixed orthodontic treatment.
Icon can be applied most efficiently for multiple cervical and labial lesions, a treatment often provided in private and mixed practices. The ability to simultaneously prepare teeth and infiltrate the caries allows dentists to deliver the treatment more efficiently. There is no requirement to drill and normally no need to provide local anaesthetic; this is something which will be appreciated by nervous patients. The ability to treat lesions without (additional) damage to healthy tooth substance will impress your patients as a highly innovative treatment form.
Private practices may also consider interproximal Icon therapy, which allows treatment up to D1 lesions without the need for occlusal preparation. The provision of this type of treatment is more time consuming and consequently additional time needs to be allocated in the busy schedule of a mixed/NHS practice to enable this.
How it works
Icon utilises an innovative caries infiltration concept. The special etch opens the surface layer and microporosities (fig 3). After desicating the lesion, capillary forces will draw the resin infiltrate into the voids. Then the light cured resin forms a permanent seal, starving the bacteria in the tooth structure from substrate and hereby preventing the progression of the lesion.
In addition, it restores the optical properties of the tooth structure thereby returning the tooth’s natural shade (fig 11). As such it serves as a non-invasive cosmetic procedure for white and brown spot lesions. The treatment time per lesion is approximately 15 minutes, irrespective of whether single or multiple labial areas are treated.
Different
Icon therapy does not require the removal of any tooth substance to be performed. As such it is as minimally invasive as a treatment can be. Anxious patients will appreciate that no injections or drilling are required. Icon treats only the damaged tooth substance; there is no need to remove healthy tooth substance for access or stability reasons.
Getting started
Icon kits are self-explanatory and the most straightforward application is on labial surfaces. However, you may initially require more time in particular in the preparation of interproximal lesions. To assist you a DMG representative can visit the practice and introduce Icon to your practice team.
To be more confident in selecting your Icon cases, I will be offering a series of hands-on courses. Attendance on one of these courses will provide delegates with all the knowledge and skills they will need to start offering this innovative and minimally invasive treatment.
Clinical pictures supplied by Dr Andreas Schult, Bad Bramstedt, Germany.
Icon lecture and hands-on courses
May 11, 2013, London.
May 18, 2013, Windsor.
For information on how to book a pleace turn over to our contacts section on page 106.
Fig 1: Brown spot lesions deriving from Fig 2: The lesions have been isolated with
orthodontic treatment 20 years ago. rubber dam from the oral environment.
Fig 3: Icon Etch has been applied to bleach Fig 4: Icon Etch is removed with a thorough
and etch the lesions. rinse.
Fig 5: Icon Dry is applied to allow complete Fig 6: The etched and dried tooth surface
drying of the tooth structure. appears chalky white.
Fig 7: Icon resin is applied and capillary Fig 8: The resin is light cured.
forces draw into the tooth surface.
Fig 9: A second layer of Icon resin is applied Fig 10: The final layer of Icon resin ha been
and light-cured. light-cured.
Fig 11: After removal of excess and Fig 12: The kits are self-explanatory and easy
polishing of the surface the brown and white to use.
lesions have disappeared almost entirely.