GC America Introduces Gradia Direct By: Mike Melkers, DDS

GC America, Inc., long recognized as the world leader in glass ionomer technology, recently introduced their new direct composite restorative, Gradia Direct at the IDS meeting in Cologne, Germany. I believe this product will firmly establish this respected company as a leader in dentistry’s aesthetic restorative sector. I had the opportunity to “test drive” Gradia Direct over the last few months and I’m really quite impressed with the system. The handling characteristics, ease of polishing and lack of sensitivity are as close to ideal as I every dreamed possible in a direct system. Gradia Direct’s natural fluorescence and shade selection certainly will quickly move this system to the top tier of composite restorative materials currently available.

Due to the remarkable shade's adaptation of GC GRADIA DIRECT Anterior to surrounding tooth structure, outstanding aesthetic restorations can easily be achieved with only one shade

My wife, Jeanine McDonald, and I recently attended GC America’s Spring Summit in beautiful Cabo San Lucas. Also in attendance were many familiar Townie faces, including Howard and Judith Farran. While those in attendance were mostly North American clinicians, the group also included participants from Europe, Australia, Japan and Mexico.

Of course, as all good dentists, we spent much of our time discussing dentistry. Our discussions, inspired by the introduction of the Gradia Direct system, focused on polychromatic techniques, economic realities in a restorative practice, training programs and meeting the expectations of both patients and clinicians. Debates on “How many shades are enough?” and “Who really uses more than a shade or two?” erupted into passionate discussions both within the formal presentations by GC America and continued through many of the social functions. Hey, we are dentists. One of the topics of discussion I found most interesting focused on how many shades are actually utilized or needed in restorative materials. With the myriad of restorative materials today, both direct and indirect, manufacturer data and clinical observation indicate 95% of restorations performed today utilize only one or two shades. We all

Some familiar Townie faces also attended GC America’s Summit meeting including (left-right) Sameer Puri, his daughter and wife Mena, Howard Farran, Tarun Agarwal, Jeanine McDonald, Judith Farran, Marshall White, his son, and wife, Jennifer and Mike Melkers

questioned why manufacturers continue to develop and promote a myriad of shade selections when their use seems to be applicable to only 5% of all restorations. It was quite refreshing to see how GC America really knows our industry and has simplified shade selections with the Gradia Direct system.

I believe the 95/5 debate doesn’t segregate clinician types, but rather loosely defines the restorative indications of monochromatic versus polychromatic restorations. Success in our restorations should be defined by our results, not how many shades are used.

If you would like to see the Gradia Direct system in ‘action’ several clinicals performed by my wife, Dr. Jeanine McDonald, and me, can be viewed online at www.dentaltown.com within the case presentation section. You can locate the cases by searching under the user name mmelkers.

For more information on the Gradia Direct system, contact GC America at 1- 800-323-7063 or visit their website – www.gcamerica.com.

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Dr. Michael Melkers is a 1994 graduate of the Marquette University School of Dentistry. He and his wife, Jeanine McDonald, practice general dentistry in Spokane, WA with an emphasis on comprehensive and restorative care. You can contact Mike through email at drmelkers@aol.com.