Northern ireland allocates £8m to gds
13.06.2026
Northern Ireland allocates additional funding to stabilise publicly funded dental services Introduction / background Belfast — In April 2026 the
Modern dentistry is undergoing an intensive digital transformation, uniting clinical and laboratory processes into a single professional care delivery ecosystem.
One of the key challenges remains the combination of vivid aesthetics with predictability and economic efficiency in reproducible clinical outcomes; in this regard the company COLTENE expanded the BRILLIANT line by introducing new bleaching shades Xtra Bleach (XBL) for BRILLIANT EverGlow and Xtra Bleach Low Translucent (XBL LT) for BRILLIANT Crios, which opens additional possibilities for restorations on bleached teeth and for cases requiring high masking capability.
In clinical practice the esthetic brightness of restorations must be combined with reproducibility and predictability; this requires standardized materials and work protocols that minimize operator variability. BRILLIANT Crios integrates into CAD/CAM workflows as a block that simulates the behavior of natural tooth tissue with pronounced damping and a gentle contact with antagonists, which is especially important for thin veneers and minimally invasive full restorations.
The new shades XBL and XBL LT allow for task separation: bright optics and high gloss for optimal esthetic outcomes on heavily bleached teeth — XBL, low translucency for masking dark stumps and improving opacity — XBL LT; such separation simplifies material selection and reduces the need for multilayering while preserving color predictability and marginal adaptation.
BRILLIANT Crios represents a high-performance CAD/CAM composite block providing rapid milling without the need for subsequent firing, allowing internal adaptation and intraoral repair, which reduces logistical barriers when integrating into the digital cycle; important clinical advantages are the possibility of direct repair without removal of the restoration and minimization of patient chair time. BRILLIANT EverGlow as a nano-composite demonstrates high workability, dimensional stability and long-term gloss retention, offering several levels of translucency and a chameleon effect, making it applicable for both one-step and multilayered esthetic protocols.
When working with BRILLIANT Crios it is recommended to optimize milling parameters — selecting speed and feed considering the type of burs and wet cooling to prevent overheating and microcracks; during final finishing a stepwise grinding from coarse to finishing grit should be applied, then polishing with silicone polishing tips and a finishing paste to achieve stable gloss. For BRILLIANT EverGlow proper polishing is critical for long-term preservation of esthetics — a multistage scheme with abrasives of different grit provides the best result, and the subsequent application of amine-free polishing profiles reduces the risk of microdamage to the surface layer.
To ensure durable adhesion it is recommended to use proven adhesive systems — universal adhesives with selective etching of enamel or self-etching modes with subsequent correction of the marginal seam depending on the clinical situation; when working with bleached tissues one should consider the potential weakening of adhesion in the first days after bleaching — if possible postpone final cementation or apply stabilization protocols with a bonding material. Intraoral repair of composite restorations is performed by means of mechanical micro-roughening and the use of a primer for composites before light-curing restoration.
The new shades are positioned as a cost-effective alternative to ceramic restorations in esthetic zones — a composite strategy reduces costs for laboratory stages and accelerates the clinical cycle, which increases the accessibility of esthetics for patients and scalability in mass practice. Packs of BRILLIANT Crios for the CEREC system are offered in five blocks size 14, and BRILLIANT EverGlow is available in a 3-gram syringe with accompanying tips — the commercial configuration is aimed at everyday use in clinics and laboratories, facilitating logistics and material stocks.
Particular value is the integration of the product into educational programs and master classes of COLTENE Academy; the availability of clinical cases and digital recommendations accelerates the process of validation and synchronization of protocols in practice, contributing to the formation of standardized approaches and the exchange of experience between clinicians and technicians.
For practical implementation of the new shades it is advisable to: perform a preliminary assessment of the baseline color using a scale, consider the time after bleaching before final fixation, choose XBL to achieve high esthetic brightness and XBL LT when masking and reducing translucency are required; optimize milling and polishing protocols, implement standardized adhesive schemes and plan staff training to reduce variability of outcomes. In the clinical context the combination of digital workflows, materials with predictable optics and educational support forms the basis for improving the quality of restorative care and scalable integration of esthetic composite solutions into everyday dental practice.
Northern Ireland allocates additional funding to stabilise publicly funded dental services Introduction / background Belfast — In April 2026 the
Contemporary dentistry is undergoing a period of accelerated digital transformation, forming new standards of clinical practice and educational ecology. The
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