Fuji IX GP Extra: A Versatile Restorative Option For The Person with Special Needs

A few years ago, while I was attending an annual meeting of the Southern Association of Institutional Dentists, I heard about a new restorative material which had shown itself to be very useful in the provision of dental care to persons with developmental disabilities. That product was called GC Fuji IX GP, and after using it very successfully for several years, I was pleased to find out that GC America has recently updated and significantly improved this excellent restorative material.

To start with, let’s review the overall characteristics and benefits of the original version called GC Fuji IX GP. This product is a glass ionomer restorative material which is a member of the most current class of self-curing glass ionomers described as “packable”. Initially, this product was developed for use with the World Health Organization’s Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) technique. The ART technique utilizes only hand instrumentation to remove decay and restore teeth with adhesive filling materials in very limited clinical settings in third world countries. Since GC Fuji IX GP is specifically designed for the ART technique, it is intended to provide long term intermediate dental care in the most primitive of working conditions on persons with limited compliance and experience in a dental chair.

GC Fuji IX GP has the following advantages over other currently available glass ionomers:

• Dramatically decreased moisture sensitivity
• Improved wear rates
• Faster setting times
• No requirement for a visible curing light if placed as an intermediate restoration.
• No requirement for a visible curing light when placed as a permanent restoration if sealed with Fuji Varnish.

(If Fuji Coat LC is used to seal the permanent restoration, it will require light curing)

• Adheres to the tooth
• Radiopaque
• Fluoride release and recharge

Fuji IX GP has the following treatment indications:

• Excellent intermediate restorative material
• Long life provisional restorations
• Permanent restorations in areas not exposed to stress bearing loads (excellent for cervical lesions in this patient population)
• Core build-ups

As a result of its unique advantages over existing glass ionomer materials, it provides an excellent intermediate and/or permanent restorative material in many of the challenging treatment circumstances posed by patients with developmental disabilities.

The new and improved incarnation of this product has several significant improvements over the previous version and is called GC Fuji IX GP Extra. First of all, it utilizes a new “SmartGlass” filler that elevates glass ionomers to a new level of professional performance. This formulation results in a more esthetically pleasing appearance for the restoration by providing improved translucency and better shade matching to the natural tooth structure.

Fuji IX GP Extra has a six times higher initial level of fluoride release than the earlier version of this product. This helps to promote and increase enamel remineralization and it also aids in maintaining an excellent marginal seal. These characteristics give Fuji IX GP Extra the ability to provide enhanced caries prevention and arrest.

This product also has a significantly quicker setting time than the earlier version. Fuji IX GP Extra is the fastest setting glass ionomer currently available to dental professionals. Like Fuji IX GP Fast, it still gives the operator a working time of approximately one and one-quarter minutes. The improvement comes in a more rapid final setting time of two and one-half minutes. This quicker final setting time shortens chair time needed to place the restoration and improves the materials ability to work within a moist field. Fuji IX GP Extra also exhibits significantly higher strength and durability than the previous versions. All of these qualities can be very valuable when working on patients with special needs.

Most of the major dental supply companies sell this product as either a complete starter kit or a capsule refill package. The complete starter package costs approximately $270.00, and it comes with a Fuji capsule applier and 50 capsules of GC Fuji IX GP Extra. The refill package sells for approximately $186.00, and it contains 50 of the GC Fuji IX GP Extra capsules.

I have personally used GC Fuji IX GP Extra, and it will definitely become a permanent part of my treatment armamentarium. This product has exhibited excellent clinical handling characteristics and results. I would highly recommend it to any dental professional engaged in the delivery of care to patients with developmental disabilities or any patient requiring long-term provisional restorations.

Dr. Carlton Horbelt has served as an Executive Board Member-at-Large since September 2006 and will continue to serve in this capacity for the remainder of his two-year term. Dr. Horbelt also serves as Dental Director at the Arlington Developmental Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health at the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in Memphis, TN.