Image courtesy of Tokuyama
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Pearls for Your Practice: Omnichroma Flow by Tokuyama

July 22, 2021
Omnichroma Flow composite opens up new options for restorations and makes inventory management easier, says Dr. Joshua Austin. Here are all the reasons he loves it.
I distinctly remember the movies of 1995. I was in high school, and one of the mainstays of high school culture was going to the movies. Some of my all-time favorite movies came out that year. Heat was amazing. I still quote “The action is the juice” to this day. Se7en was another 1995 classic that is still in my pantheon of favorite movies.

Even though Heat and Se7en were amazing, another 1995 movie has had the longest standing impact … Toy Story. I remember being skeptical of the computer animation going in, and then being blown away walking out. Toy Story is the original when it comes to using computer animation to tell an amazing story. They followed it up in 1999 with Toy Story 2. Once again, I was skeptical. Once again, I came out of the theater blown away. It was even better than the original!

Omnichroma by Tokuyama is the Toy Story of single-shade composites—the original. Now they just Toy Story 2-ed it with Omnichroma Flow.

Omnichroma Flow is the successor and adjunct to the original Omnichroma paste that came out a few years ago. With its spherical fillers and what Tokuyama calls Smart Chromatic Technology, Omnichroma and Omnichroma Flow can match every shade from A1 to D4 with a single shade. Inventory management is a difficult problem in dentistry that drives up overhead. Products like the Omnichroma family can help with that.

What is great about Omnichroma Flow is the options that it opens up for us restoratively. Ask my assistants if I do every restoration the same way. They will immediately cackle like maniacs and scream “NO!” Not every restoration is the same. Some are big. Some are small. Some need added strength features. Some need something to get into tiny nooks and crannies. I need restorative materials that give me options.

The addition of flowable to the Omnichroma family does that. It can be used up to full contour on smaller restorations including class I, class III, and class V situations. It can also be used as a base for larger class I and II restorations. When used for smaller restorations, Omnichroma Flow can be used alone or along with Omnichroma Flow Blocker if there is darkness that needs to be blocked out underneath. Omnichroma paste offers the same options, so this should be familiar to previous Omnichroma users.

I have been impressed with using Omnichroma Flow for larger restorations as a base. This amazingly esthetic base can be layered with any composite you want on top of it. You can certainly use Omnichroma paste and get a great result.

I love Tokuyama’s Estelite Sigma Quick composite. It might be one of my favorite composites of all time. When used on top of Omnichroma Flow on a large posterior composite, it looks amazing. I think the color matching of the Omnichroma Flow underneath the Estelite gives the teeth anatomic depth that is gorgeous. Estelite Sigma Quick looks better when used with Omnichroma Flow.

Omnichroma Flow is not exactly bulk fill, but it isn’t not bulk fill either. Welcome to the most confusing sentence I have written in my Pearls for Your Practice career. Tokuyama has developed a chart to know how deep you can layer your Omnichroma Flow. It is all based on the output power of your curing light. The more powerful light you use, the deeper you can cure Omnichroma Flow. This is smart, and I love it. All restorative materials should have charts like this.

Just like Toy Story 2, Omnichroma Flowable is great by itself or when consumed with the original. To infinity and beyond! Triple to the left field corner for Omnichroma Flow!

About the Author

Joshua Austin, DDS, MAGD

Joshua Austin, DDS, MAGD, is a graduate and former faculty member of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Dentistry. Author of Dental Economics’ Pearls for Your Practice column, Dr. Austin lectures nationally on products, dental technology, online reputation management, and social media. He maintains a full-time restorative dentistry private practice in San Antonio, Texas. You may contact Dr. Austin at [email protected].

Updated June 21, 2023

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