Venus® Diamond Composite Delivers Exceptional Clinical Performance after 18 Months in Posterior Cavities

SOUTH BEND, Ind., March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Heraeus Kulzer, LLC, the worldwide leader in dental esthetics, announced today that its Venus Diamond nano-hybrid composite was highly rated in an 18-month in vivo clinical study conducted by the Department of Restorative Dentistry of the Dental School at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat (LMU) in Munich, Germany. Venus Diamond achieved consistently high marks in all tested categories, including surface texture, color match, anatomic form surface, anatomic form marginal step, marginal integrity and marginal discoloration.

The clinical findings were presented at the 45th Congress of the Continental European Division of the International Association for Dental Research in the Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary by Prof. Jurgen Manhart. The presentation verified that Venus Diamond's contemporary nano-hybrid composites combine excellent mechanical properties with outstanding esthetic results in posterior cavities, enabling dental practices to produce natural and durable restorations with reduced effort.

Clinical Procedure: Analysis of 98 fillings in Class I and II Cavities

This study evaluated the clinical efficacy of Venus Diamond in posterior direct composite restorations compared to Tetric EvoCeram® (Ivoclar Vivadent). Three dentists placed 48 restorations featuring the combination of Venus Diamond and iBOND® Self Etch (both Heraeus Kulzer) and 50 restorations with Tetric EvoCeram (TE) and GLUMA® Comfort Bond  (Heraeus Kulzer) in class I and II cavities of 71 patients. The clinical assessment at baseline and after 18 months was performed by two independent dentists using modified USPHS criteria: surface texture, color match, anatomic form surface, anatomic form marginal step, marginal integrity, marginal discoloration, tooth integrity, restoration integrity, occlusion, sensitivity, postoperative symptoms and patient's compliance. The marks given for each criterion were either "Alpha" (excellent), "Bravo" (clinically acceptable), "Charlie" or "Delta". The results were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test (p < 0.05).

Excellent Results

At the 18-month evaluation, 46 Venus Diamond restorations and 34 Tetric EvoCeram fillings were evaluated on all 12 criteria. Overall, 97.8% of the Venus Diamond and 97.1% of the Tetric EvoCeram restorations were rated as clinically excellent or acceptable, with predominating Alpha scores. For the criteria surface texture, color match, anatomic form surface, anatomic form marginal step, marginal integrity, marginal discoloration and tooth integrity, Venus Diamond achieved almost solely Alpha marks and no Charlie or Delta marks. It also showed a significantly better surface texture (p = 0.01, MW U-test) than Tetric EvoCeram. All of the study teeth were vital and sound and none exhibited sensitivity or postoperative symptoms, which led to 100% patient compliance with the Venus Diamond restorations.

Prof. Manhart concluded, "Up to 18 months, the clinical performance of Venus Diamond and Tetric EvoCeram exhibited excellent results."

"Heraeus created Venus Diamond's patented nano-hybrid composite formulation to offer dental practices an unsurpassed blend of longevity, esthetical properties and convenience of application," Amanda Holland, Heraeus Product Manager. "These impressive clinical results indicate that Venus Diamond clearly delivers as promised in a real-world environment.  Moreover, these results also document the exceptional performance of our iBOND Self Etch and GLUMA Comfort Bond formulations.

For more information on Heraeus or its products, call (800) 431-1785 or visit www.heraeusdentalusa.com.

About Heraeus

Heraeus, the precious metals and technology group headquartered in Hanau, Germany, is a global, private company with 160 years of tradition. Our fields of competence include precious metals, materials, and technologies, sensors, biomaterials, and medical products, as well as dental products, quartz glass, and specialty light sources. With product revenues of euro 4.1 billion and precious metal trading revenues of euro 17.9 billion, as well as more than 12,900 employees in over 120 subsidiaries worldwide, Heraeus holds a leading position in its global markets.  

SOURCE Heraeus Kulzer, LLC