Materials and Techniques to Improve Your Conservative, Adhesive Dentistry (6 CEs)

Date: Friday, March 14, 2025

Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm

Location: Virtual

Registration Coming Soon

Our goal as dental professionals should be to maximize the lifetime of our patients’ dentition. Every time tooth structure must be removed with a handpiece, the lifetime of that tooth is reduced.  Conservative dentistry aims to remove as little tooth as possible during restorative procedures in order to better extend the lifetime of each tooth. Adhesive dentistry helps us achieve this goal.  Adhesive dentistry allows us to bond to tooth structure such that minimally invasive preparations may be performed.  The goal of this course is to discuss conservative treatment options as well as the materials and techniques used to perform these treatments.

For direct restorations, diagnosis, isolation, caries removal, cavity preparation, use of liner, matrix and wedge placement, bonding technique, composite placement, and finishing and polishing will all be reviewed.  For indirect restorations, this course will discuss how to select, handle and bond contemporary dental ceramic materials.

The presentation will be based on current evidence collected at the UAB School of Dentistry as well as the current literature, however, the information will focus on tips that can be applied directly in the dental clinic.

Course objectives

1. Learn preparation guidelines for ceramic onlays
2. Learn bonding protocols for lithium disilicate onlays and crowns
3. Learn preparation guidelines for zirconia resin bonded bridges
4. Learn bonding protocols for bonding zirconia resin bonded bridge
5. Review different types of ceramic materials used for full coverage crowns
6. Learn cementation and bonding protocols for zirconia crowns with self-adhesive or RMGI cements
7. Discuss design considerations with posterior and anterior bridges
8. Discuss material-related esthetic concerns with anterior crowns (implant and natural tooth)
9. Learn the best burs for removing ceramic crowns and performing endodontic access through crowns
10. Discuss the thresholds for operative treatment for incipient carious lesions
11. Discuss the concept of selective caries removal
12. Learn the contemporary materials for direct pulp capping
13. Discuss tooth preparation considerations for adhesively bonded composites
14. Review the research on the best adhesive system to use for direct composites
15. Review the important steps for direct bonding
16. Learn new materials and techniques for Class II matrix systems
17. Review research about materials for posterior composites with a focus on bulk-fill and flowable composites
18. Review materials and research for different materials adjustment and polishing techniques for posterior composites

Meet the Speaker

About:

Nathaniel Lawson DMD PhD is the Director of the Division of Biomaterials at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry and the program director of the Biomaterials residency program. He graduated from UAB School of Dentistry in 2011 and obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2012. His research interests are the mechanical, optical, and biologic properties of dental materials and clinical evaluation of new dental materials. He has published over 200 peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and research abstracts. He was the 2016 recipient of the Stanford New Investigator Award and the 2017 Innovative Research Fellowship both from the American Dental Association.  He served on the American Dental Association Council of Scientific Affairs and is on the editorial board of The Journal of Adhesive Dentistry and Compendium. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the subject of dental materials. He also works as a general dentist in the UAB Faculty Practice.