Way back in dental school, the only temporary cement we had was zinc oxide/eugenol. Over my last 46 years of clinical practice, I cannot begin to count how many cements have been launched for provisional restorations with and without the tried-and-true zinc oxide/eugenol combination. Voco has a great new translucent, zinc oxide, non-eugenol, temporary cement that contains calcium hydroxide called Provicol QM Aesthetic (QM stands for quick mix versus automix).
There are five key advantages to this radiopaque cement: 1) zinc oxide has antibacterial prop-erties; 2) the calcium hydroxide will help develop tertiary dentin while reducing hypersensitivity; 3) it is translucent, so there is no white bleed-through in anterior provisional restorations due to its proprietary glass matrix of polyhedral particle; 4) it has semielastic consistency, which facilitates cleanup; and 5) it will not bond to composite resin core buildups. I have found the temporary crowns are well retained (due to a low 7 μm film thickness) and easily removed. In fact, you can use this as “squirt and shoot” temporary filling in small class I cavity preps, in addition to the more common use with inlays/onlays, crowns, veneers (especially since it is translucent), and bridges. This is an excellent material and a great partner to Voco’s terrific provisional material, Structur 3.
Howard Glazer, DDS, FAGD, is a columnist for Dental Economics. He is a key opinion leader in dental products and maintains a general practice in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Dr. Glazer is a fellow and past president of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD). He lectures frequently on the subjects of dental materials, cosmetic dentistry, forensic dentistry, and patient management.
