general practice

feature

CASE REPORT:

Microbrush Stamp
Technique
by K. Varsha Rao

After spending a lot of chairside

time adjusting, finishing and polishing
posterior restorations, I came across
a simple but effective way to restore
posterior teeth with composite material. This is the microbrush stamp
technique. The purpose is to replicate
occlusal anatomy by making a copy of

the original unprepared tooth structure.

The technique has evolved. For
instance, I made a slight modification
to the original technique by using a
piece of cling film instead of Teflon in
the protocol.
Here is a pictorial description of the
entire procedure.

Fig. 1. Preop view.

Fig. 3. Gingival dam material (material used for

protecting gingiva) is applied to the unprepared
tooth structure.

Fig. 2. The tip of the microbrush is cut for better

handling.
Fig. 4. The cut microbrush is inserted into the
gingival dam material and cured, taking care the
tip does not touch the tooth surface.

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SEPTEMBER 2015 // dentaltown.com

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Fig. 9. Stamp made out of composite flow material.

Fig. 5. After preparing the tooth and clearing it

from caries, and just after applying the final layer
of composite, the surface is covered with a cling
film (which acts as a separator) and the stamp is
placed on tooth surface with pressure.

Fig. 7. Postop view

Fig. 10. Teflon tape acting as barrier material

and the stamp used to replicate the occlusal
topography.

Fig. 8. Preop view.

Fig. 6. On removal of cling film, some excess
material is seen on the tooth surface that can be
removed with the regular composite finishing burs.

The advantage of the cling film over

Teflon was that, unlike the original protocol that advises one to use Teflon as
barrier material multiple times to sculpt
with curing, I could place cling film and
cure through it, thereby protecting the
composite material from being exposed to
ambient light multiple times.

I also used the original protocol

advocated by Dr. Waseem Riaz whose
videos on the procedure I had seen
before I tried the same. Heres a pictorial explanation of the procedure.

Conclusion

Fig. 11. Postoperative view.

The microbrush stamp technique is

an easy-to-follow procedure to recreate
occlusal topography, but is restricted to
teeth with intact occlusal anatomy.

Do you use techniques in your restorative work? Share them at Dentaltown.com/magazine.aspx.

Author Bio
Dr. K. Varsha Rao has a postgraduate certificate in oral implantology from the Manipal College of Dental Sciences. She has a clinical mastership
in Implantology certificate from Stony Brook University. She has been in private practice since 1999. She has received a certificate of merit
from New York University of Dentistry in Implants and Oral Rehabilitation, and has written a thesis on treatment planning for single tooth
replacements with implants. Rao is a fellow of the Indian Society of Oral Implantologists, and of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists. She is currently pursuing a certificate course in cosmetic dentistry.
dentaltown.com \\ SEPTEMBER 2015

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