GC EUROPE GRADIA Direct User Manual

One-shade

simplicity and

aesthetic invisibility

GC GRADIA DIRECT

Composite Restorative

Light-Cured

CLINICAL GUIDE

All clinical cases by Dr. Nassib Farès, Beirut, Lebanon

Why?

GC Dry Mouth Gel

The need for beautiful aesthetics,
simply achieved

Advances in aesthetic dentistry and wide-spread publicity
of what nowadays can be achieved, have led more and
more patients to expect that a restoration will perfectly
match their surrounding teeth.

The choice of a direct restoration however, can present the
dentist with a dilemma. No matter what the case,
traditional materials often take several shade layers to
create a good match or ‘chameleon effect’ with
neighbouring teeth. This makes the procedure more
complex, time-consuming and ultimately more expensive
for both dentist and patient. Not surprisingly, aesthetics is
often compromised for the sake of simplicity and cost.
Indeed, 95% of direct restorations are carried out with just
one shade even though the patient may not get the look
they want.

The excellent aesthetics
achievable with
GRADIA DIRECT, its ability
to blend with surrounding

Vol. 23, No.10 Dec. 2006

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tooth structure,
outstanding handling
properties without
stickiness and the simplicity
of the shade system were
all highlighted by THE
Dental Advisor and Reality.

GC gradia direct

With GRADIA DIRECT from
GC you can forget
compromise! A new direct
restorative created for
today’s dentistry, it meets
the needs of both patients
and dentists by giving a
superb natural-looking
restoration in most cases
with a single shade. And if
higher-end aesthetics is
required or if the class of
restoration demands, a
selection of special shades
can be added very easily. It
also means the dentist has
more opportunities to
perform modern minimum
intervention dentistry to the
aesthetic satisfaction of the
patient.

GRADIA DIRECT

Before restoration After restoration

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GC gradia direct

Optical properties determine the ‘look’
of a natural tooth

Colour is the optical property which contributes most to
the appearance of a tooth.
It is actually a three-dimensional space composed of:

• hue - the pure colour itself

• chroma - the saturation of the colour

• value - the lightness or darkness of the colour

In dentistry, the nature of tooth structure also brings into
play other optical properties, such as translucency,
opalescence and fluorescence.

How these optical properties are perceived and hence the
tooth’s appearance, is determined by the way the tooth
reflects light back into the viewer’s eye. There are two
types of reflection:

• Mirror reflection is when all wavelengths are reflected
back to the eye.

Perfect translucency and
opalescence

• Diffuse reflection occurs when light within the tooth is

reflected off the complex series of interfaces and this

type of reflection is responsible for how the tooth's hue,

chroma and value are actually perceived as well as its
translucency and opalescence.

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GRADIA DIRECT

Clinical guide

Particle structure imitates reflectivity
of a natural tooth

By studying the tooth’s optical properties it became clear that the closer a restoration
material could mimic the internal structure of a natural tooth, the closer would be
their appearance within the mouth.

To achieve this, the material of GRADIA DIRECT consists of a micro-filled matrix of resin
composite with compounds mainly of silica and pre-polymerised fillers. The amount of
each constituent and its particle size distribution has been carefully chosen so that when
added together, many different interfaces occur with different reflective properties.
The result is a diverse, multifaceted internal structure, similar to the natural tooth, which
creates an internal reflectivity that accurately reproduces the reflectivity of natural tooth.

Natural reflectivity

means natural aesthetics

Indeed, the chameleon effect with the surrounding natural
teeth is so good that the restoration is aesthetically
'invisible' often with a single shade layer and gives
outstanding highend aesthetics when further shades are
used.

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GC gradia direct

Structure works with unique Shade System

Gradia Direct Anterior 22 shades

Standard

XBW BW A1 A3 A3,5 A4A2 B2 B3B1

Inside
Special

AO2 AO3 AO4

Outside
Special

DT CT GT WT CVTNT

Gradia Direct Posterior 6 shades

Standard

P-A1

P-A2

P-A3

P-A3,5

Outside
Special

P-WT

P-NT

Gradia Direct X 6 shades

CV CVDC3

XBW: Extra Bleach White
BW: Bleach White
CV: Cervical
CVD: Cervical Dark
DT: Dark Translucent
CT: Clear Translucent
GT: Grey Translucent
NT: Natural Translucent
WT: White Translucent
CVT: Cervical Translucent

Standard

X-A1

X-A2

X-A3

X-A3,5

Standard and Inside Special
shades are based on the
Vita® Shade Guide.

Inside
Special

X-AO2

Outside
Special

X-WT

To give shades that work with the material’s unique multifaceted internal structure, and
meet the needs for the single shade and multi-shade technique, a unique range of
shades has been developed where each shade has been perfectly adapted in terms of its
hue, chroma, value and translucency.

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Clinical guide

GRADIA DIRECT

Standard Shades

For the single-shade and multi-shade
technique in both anterior and posterior
restorations.

Special Shades

For the multi-shade technique, of which
there are two versions:

• Inside Special shades
These are for anterior restorations only. For
use underneath Standard Shades, they
have a higher opacity in order to block out
unwanted ‘dark shine’ through the mouth.

• Outside Special shades
These are for anterior and posterior
restorations. For use on top of Standard
Shades, they mimic the value and
translucency of enamel giving restorations
a very ‘life-like’ appearance.

Further details on the shades
available as well as when and
how to use them are described
in the next section.

GC GRADIA DIRECT
Anterior

This version is for:

• Class III, IV and V cavities

• wedge-shaped defects and root surface
cavities

• veneers and diastema closure

GC GRADIA DIRECT
Posterior

This version is for:

• Class I and II cavities

• when radiopacity is required

Shade Guide

Standard Shades and Inside Special
shades are based on the VITAPAN
Classical® Shade Guide but some of
the Outside Special shades are unique, so
to aid selection there is a simple to use
GRADIA DIRECT Shade Guide. Each
shade is a wedge shaped 'finger' of
increasing thickness to help dentists judge
the influence of material thickness on a
particular shade.

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GC gradia direct

All the properties for a long-lasting restoration

As well as giving outstanding aesthetics, GRADIA
DIRECT has all the other properties you would expect for
a restoration material:

Good polishability

For improved aesthetics, GRADIA DIRECT polishes
quickly and easily to a smooth, glossy surface.

Tough and flexible

To resist bending and occlusal forces as well as the spread
of cracks, GRADIA DIRECT has high fracture toughness
and a low modulus of elasticity.

High wear resistance

Essential for posterior restorations, GRADIA DIRECT is
very durable, resisting occlusal wear exceptionally well,
yet there is low wear on opposing dentition.

Light curable

GRADIA DIRECT can be light cured using a quartz
halogen, plasma arc or LED light. There is minimum
colour change before and after light curing.

Radiopaque

The posterior version of GRADIA DIRECT is radiopaque.

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