Tescera indirect composite.
A laboratory-processed composite system offering an alternative to ceramic where repairability, kindness to the antagonist or cost matter more than maximum strength. Tick Tescera under Type of Crown.
Where indirect composite fits
Laboratory processing gives an indirect composite properties a direct restoration cannot reach — more complete polymerization, better contour and contact control, and a surface finish achieved outside the mouth.
It sits between direct composite and ceramic. Less brittle than ceramic and considerably kinder to opposing enamel, but lower in strength and less resistant to wear and staining over the long term.
That makes it a reasonable choice for patients where a ceramic restoration would be over-specified, for cases where the antagonist needs protecting, and for provisional restorations intended to serve for an extended period.
Repairability is a genuine advantage
Composite bonds to composite. A chipped or worn indirect composite restoration can be repaired intraorally with direct composite far more predictably than a fractured ceramic can, and the repair is neither a compromise nor a temporizing measure in the same way.
For a patient with a history of fracturing restorations, or one where a definitive solution is being deferred, that changes the calculation.
Preparation
Broadly similar to ceramic in principle — defined margins, rounded internal line angles, adequate but not excessive reduction — though the material tolerates slightly less bulk than a glass ceramic would need.
As with any bonded restoration, the field has to be controllable. Indirect composite relies on adhesive cementation, and it does not have strength in reserve if the bond is compromised.
See preparation guides for reduction by restoration type.
Wear and finish
Composite wears more readily than ceramic, and it will lose surface polish over time in function. That is not a defect so much as the trade being made — the material that is kinder to the opposing tooth is the one that gives way first.
Where a patient shows heavy parafunction, that wear rate may be unacceptable and ceramic or metal is the better answer.
Polishing after any chairside adjustment is straightforward with composite polishing systems, and it is worth doing properly.
Extended provisional work
One of the more useful applications is a provisional restoration intended to serve for months rather than weeks — during periodontal treatment, implant integration, orthodontic movement, or a vertical dimension being tested.
A laboratory-processed indirect composite provisional holds position, contact, occlusion and tissue form far better than a chairside restoration made for a fortnight and asked to last longer.
It also lets the provisional do design work, establishing form the definitive restoration should reproduce. See provisional restorations.
What the laboratory needs
A clear margin, an accurate bite record, and complete adjacent teeth — the requirements are no different from ceramic work, and indirect composite is no more forgiving of a poor record.
Where the restoration is replacing an existing one, tell us what failed and why. A composite chosen because ceramic fractured is a different prescription from one chosen for conservation.
Submission requirements are collected in the new client guide.
What to put on the prescription
Tick Tescera under Type of Crown, give the shade with the guide named, and mark the tooth on the design chart.
Note the antagonist and any evidence of parafunction, since both bear directly on whether the material is well chosen. Specify interproximal contact form and tightness.
If the restoration is intended as an extended provisional rather than a definitive, say so — it changes how it is finished.
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