Beautifil Opaquer from Shofu, is a light-cure flowable composite used as a opaquer or a masking agent.
- Available as:
- Flowable syringe – 2 gms
- Package contains 5 disposable needles too.
- Available shades:
- Light Opaque
- Universal Opaque
Indications:
- Mask tooth discolouration due too:
- Internal Staining
- Amalgam tatoo
- Trauma
- Pulp capping
- Intraoral repair of PFM restorations (where metal is exposed).
- Mask abutment tooth discolouration for indirect restoration.
Pros:
- Effectively masks discolouration even with a thin layer of around 0.5 mm.
- Fluoride release prevents secondary caries.
- It’s radiopaque.
- The syringe is designed with a pull back mechanism to prevent wastage.
Cons:
- A maximum thickness of 0.5 mm is recommended per layer. Further layers can be added if required incrementally.
- Only 2 shades are available. This can be a problem during shade matching using composites in ‘thin’ areas.
Composition:
- Bis-GMA 25-30%
- Triethylenglycol dimethacrylate
- Aluminofluoro-borosilicate glass 40-50%
- Aluminium trioxide
- Others
Directions for Use:
- Pretreat the materials to be bonded (metal, composite, porcelain or natural tooth) according to their individual instructions.
- Remove the shield cap and attach the new needle as shown in the figures (A & B) below.
- Apply the material directly using the needle or extrude onto a paper pad to apply using some other suitable instrument.
- It should always be thinly applied (<0.5 mm).
- If thicker layer is required, incremental layers should be applied after curing the previous layer .
| Light curing Unit | Halogen | LED |
| Light curing time | 40 seconds | 20 seconds |
- Direct composite restorations can then be used over the opaquer layer according to manufacturers instructions.
- Discard the used needle. You can either attach a new needle and shield cap over it or just the shield cap can be tightened as shown in figures C & D below.
- It can be stored between 1-30°C (34-86°F). If stored in a refrigerator, the material should be brought back to room temperature before use.
- Keep away from direct sunlight or any source of fire.
Review of Beautifil Opaquer
Every clinician has faced a situation of ceramic chip-off from metal ceramic crown. Repairing the crown is a challenge which is compounded by the cosmetic requirement of hiding the metal show.
Normal nano-filled composites are made to be transluscent and hence can’t hide the metal underneath.
Beautifil opaquer does the job of hiding the metal show. It comes in 2 shades, LO & UO. If you can have just one shade, get LO. The high value (light colour) of LO allows you to use composites to match the shade easily. The best part is if the defect is small, even with a recommended thickness of 0.5mm, the discolouration can be hidden; a bigger defect may require additional layers.
You might buy Beutiful Opaquer to hide metal show and repair the PFM crown, but you will most likely end up using it more often to hide discoloured tooth or stained tooth from previous amalgam restoration.
Beautifil Opaquer has a very good shelf life of 3 years.
There are other flowable opaquers from Kuraray and Bisco, available in the market too.
Please leave your questions or comments in the section below.