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January 13, 2025

Gabriel Krastl, Prof. Dr. med. Dent.

Clinical Case: Diastemas closure with one-single shade

Using 3M™ Filtek™ Easy Match

About the Case

A young patient of 17-years-old comes to the consultation because he does not like to see those spaces between his teeth. We propose several treatment alternatives, but he was only interested in closing those diastemas. No caries or gingival inflammation was present.

The challenge: After the evaluation, in this type of patient I consider that composite is the material of choice, since it allows me to restore the new shape of the tooth without any type of preparation.

Learn more about the products used in this clinical case

- 3M™ Filtek™ Easy Match

Pre-op patient’s smile.
Diastemas and a slight gummy smile can be observed.

Shade selection.
With 3M™ Filtek™ Easy Match, there is no need to use any color guide, but since I was unfamiliar with this composite, I decided to make a guide with the material itself to select the best option. I selected Natural and Bright shades for this case.

Front view of pre-op intraoral situation.

Lateral view of pre-op intraoral situation.
1st quadrant detail.

Lateral view of pre-op intraoral situation.
2nd quadrant detail.

Immediate post-op situation after diastemas closure in 1st quadrant.
Composite was added to #13 mesial, #12 mesial and distal.

Immediate post-op situation after diastemas closure in 2nd quadrant.
Composite was added to #23 mesial, #22 mesial and distal.

Immediate post-op situation after diastemas closure in 1st quadrant after rubber dam removal.

Immediate post-op situation after diastemas closure in 2nd quadrant after rubber dam removal.

Front view of 1 week follow-up intraoral situation.

Lateral view of 1 week follow-up intraoral situation.
1st quadrant detail. Notice the closure of black triangles.

Lateral view of 1 week follow-up intraoral situation.
2nd quadrant detail. Notice the good response of gingival tissues.

Patient’s final smile.

The Outcome

Treating very young patients is always a challenge, because we want to satisfy their aesthetic demands but we do not want to do invasive treatments. The composite allows us to resolve these cases in the best possible way, both for the patient and the professional.