A Dozen Ways to Prevent & Restore

Clinpro: Clearing the Path to Prevention

Preventive care plays a critical role in protecting patients who are most vulnerable to decay—whether due to age, medication, orthodontic treatment, or past caries history. For these patients, in-office fluoride therapies and prescription-strength home care products offer an added layer of defense and help stop small problems from becoming bigger ones.

3M Clinpro 5000

For Raritan, NJ, dentist Dr. Teresa DeStefano, 3M Clinpro 5000 1.1% Sodium Fluoride Anti-Cavity Toothpaste is one of those products.

“We put most of our geriatric patients on Clinpro 5000, as they suffer from dry mouth due to medications, as well as our ortho kids who are doing a poor job with hygiene,” Dr. DeStefano shared. “We also prescribe it for anyone with a high caries rate or many decalcification areas.”

Designed for use as part of a complete treatment plan for high-caries-risk patients to prevent and control tooth decay, Clinpro 5000 is a clinically proven prescription-strength formula containing an exclusive functionalized tricalcium phosphate (fTCP) ingredient.

“When talking to patients, we stress that Clinpro 5000 is a prescription-strength fluoride that will strengthen the enamel and make it more difficult for new cavities to form, and that its formulation can harden up old decalcification areas on the facial of teeth,” Dr. DeStefano added.

Giving High-Risk Patients an Added Boost

Used in place of conventional toothpaste and available in Bubble Gum, Vanilla Mint, and Spearmint flavors, Clinpro 5000 provides strong protection against early lesions and lesion progression by delivering high-quality mineral throughout the tooth —not just at the surface.

“When used regularly, we notice that decalcifications on the facial get very inactive and harden up,” Dr. DeStefano explained. “Many small lesions do not get worse, and the rate of new caries is much less than without Clinpro. Overall, it’s an excellent product!”

 Hygienist Lydia Pope couldn’t agree more, recommending Clinpro 5000 to her high-caries-risk, ortho, and perio patients.

“For those with high caries risk, it gives the patient an added boost of fluoride to help lower the risk of decay,” she said. “For ortho patients, it protects around brackets to prevent white spot lesions, and for perio patients, it helps protect root exposures and sensitive areas after scaling and root planing.”

Pope’s high-risk patients use Clinpro 5000 daily and receive in-office fluoride treatments every 3 months.

“I have found it helps arrest areas that have potential for decay,” she added. “Patients who use it seem to be more aware of their teeth and want to do better. It’s a win-win! Plus, everyone likes the flavors.”

3M Clinpro Clear Fluoride Treatment

While 3M Vanish 5% Sodium Fluoride White Varnish has been a mainstay in dental practices for years, 3M Clinpro Clear Fluoride Treatment is quickly catching up.

Specifically formulated for an improved taste, smell, and mouthfeel, the water-based fluoride varnish helps dentists and hygienists get more patients to say “yes” to fluoride treatment.

“Dissatisfaction with traditional fluoride varnish by the public is no secret. The taste, smell, feel, and wait times all have contributed to a lack of treatment acceptance,” said Jo-Anne Jones, RDH, FIADFE. “The esthetic aspect of Clinpro Clear is immediately noticeable and compliant with the patient’s desire to leave with a smooth, fresh, ‘just cleaned’ mouth.”

Clinpro Clear has a ready-release formula and minimum contact time of just 15 minutes. Leveraging soluble fluoride ions that are immediately available to deposit onto the tooth, it uses a lower dosage of sodium fluoride to provide similar or higher amounts of fluoride uptake compared to traditional 5% varnish treatment.

Until now, Jones said, there hasn’t been an opportunity for fluoride varnish to interact immediately upon application, as the fluoride ion needed to escape from the varnish and be in contact with saliva before being activated.

“It’s a tremendous breakthrough that will help my colleagues elevate acceptance of a treatment that is vital to the integrity of the oral cavity,” she added. 

3M Clinpro Sealant

A light-curing and fluoride-releasing pit-and-fissure sealant infused with color-changing technology, 3M Clinpro Sealant goes on pink when applied to the tooth surface, and then changes to white when exposed to light. The pink color enhances visibility, making sealant placement faster and easier.

“I like when sealants go on pink and turn white when cured so I can see where the flow of sealant material is,” said Allison Koska, RDH, who applies Clinpro Sealant to both her adult and pediatric patients.

Offering long-lasting protection, Clinpro Sealant’s low-viscosity formula flows easily into pits and fissures, securely bonding to enamel and aiding in caries prevention. 

Filtek Dental Composites: Highly Esthetic, Highly Simplified

For years, a trio of 3M Filtek dental composites has taken top honors in the Universal, Bulk Fill, and Flowable Composite categories of the DPS Readers’ Choice survey. Featuring TRUE nanotechnology—which ensures excellent polish retention and wear resistance—the materials create durable, long-lasting restorations for patients, which makes them a staple on dentists’ operatory shelves and in their restorative workflows.

3M Filtek Universal Restorative

On the universal side is 3M Filtek Universal Restorative. The composite leverages Natural Match technology, which uses nanofillers, low-stress monomers, and pigments to blend naturally with surrounding dentition. Covering 19 VITA classical and bleach shades with just 8 designer shades, it polishes to a smooth, high-gloss finish.

“It polished beautifully,” affirmed Dr. Salomon Maya, who achieved excellent results when using Filtek Universal to replace composites a patient’s worn, stained resins on the facial structures of teeth Nos. 8 and 9. “The handling was superb, and it gave me more confidence to use in anterior cases.”

Filtek Universal’s longer, 8-mm tip and flexible opening enable easy placement, allowing the material to extrude like a flowable and then become viscous during shaping.

Filtek Universal’s longer, 8-mm tip and flexible opening enable easy placement, allowing the material to extrude like a flowable and then become viscous during shaping.

“The tip design really allows for easy placement, and the angle makes it accessible to hard-to-reach spots,” noted Keith Schwartz, DMD. Dr. James Yang agreed that “the rede-signed tip makes it a breeze to access Class IIs and Vs.”

3M Filtek Easy Match Universal Restorative

The newest addition to the 3M Filtek family of dental composites, 3M Filtek Easy Match Universal Restorative Material is a perfect “match” for the growing trend of simplification in dentistry—at least according to the DPS evaluators who deemed it a Best Product.

That includes Todd Sarubin, DDS, who described the material’s shade-matching ability as “outstanding.”

“Filtek Easy Match Universal was everything I was looking for in a composite—less time and less switching out different shades, and the color and bond were super,” he said. “It’s a great product for multiple teeth from anterior to posterior, with good wear resistance.”

With just 3 shades—Bright, Natural, and Warm—to span the entire VITA classical shade guide with no blocker needed, Filtek Easy Match’s naturally adaptive opacity blends seamlessly with surrounding tooth structure to deliver natural-looking results.

“It’s always discouraging to place a visible composite and have it not blend into the tooth’s color,” Dr. Francis Jacobyansky said. “Filtek Easy Match was an improvement as it tended to pick up underlying tooth color. It truly simplified my shade matching.”

3M Filtek Supreme Flowable

Filtek composites are always improving, and Filtek Supreme Flowable Restorative is a prime example. Several years ago, a new ergonomic syringe design and user-friendly triangle fi nger plate made the composite easier to hold and inject, while also virtually eliminating bubbles and material run-on during dispensing.

“There were no bubbles that had to be retreated,” Dr. Gregg Fink shared. “It provided excellent-quality restorations and a great dispensing design.”

The cannula is easily bendable by hand for access to the prep area, which led Ira Biderman, DDS, FAGD, to declare: “It was easy to use in any Class II restoration. It flows great into all areas where it’s needed and stacks well.”

Filtek Supreme Flowable can be warmed up to 158º F for up to an hour, up to 25 times, which lowers extrusion force to improve adaptation to the tooth.

3M Filtek One Bulk Fill

With exceptional cavity adaptation, 3M Filtek One Bulk Fill is specially designed with improved opacity and esthetics. In fact, it has the ability to opacify as it cures.

“As the material cures, the refractory index changes and the light scatters rath-er than just passes through,” Dr. Charles Regalado said. “This creates a final cured state with both adequate opacity to hide darker stains and enough translucency to blend to the natural tooth.”

With 1-step placement up to 5 mm—no capping layer needed—Filtek One’s TRUE nanofiller technology ensures very high and sustainable polishability.

“My patients comment on the ultra smooth surface I can create with Filtek One,” Dr. Regalado said. “And it only takes seconds to bring it back to full luster when needed at recare appointments.”

Scotchbond and RelyX: A Dynamic Duo for Excellent Adhesion

Like peanut butter and jelly and sunshine and rainbows, some things are simply better together—designed not just to complement, but also to elevate each other’s performance. In restorative dentistry, few pairings demonstrate that synergy as seamlessly as 3M Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive and 3M RelyX Universal Resin Cement. Engineered to function as a unified system, this duo brings efficiency, reliability, and versatility to the cementation workflow.

Just ask Stephen Gordon, DDS, who dared to tell DPS, “This is the best cementation system I have used in my 42 years of dental practice.”

Fewer Steps Lead to Success

The powerful duo is composed of RelyX Universal, a self-adhesive resin cement with excellent adhesion, and 3M Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive, a single-bottle solution compatible with all direct and indirect bonding techniques. Used together, the 2 products eliminate the need for multiple cementation materials, while streamlining workflows and simplifying inventory.