When I reviewed Bulk EZ by Zest, I compared it to Ted Lasso. Seems like a reach, but I wasn’t trying to say that Bulk EZ was a happy-go-lucky soccer coach in the UK. I said that, as they had about the show, a lot of people told me how great Bulk EZ was and I chose to ignore their recommendation for some reason. When I finally got around to trying it, I wondered what took me so long!
And just like the show, Bulk EZ is back for season two! No, I don’t mean that Bulk EZ sees a team therapist for panic attacks—I mean that Zest has released a new and improved version called Bulk EZ Plus.
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Bulk EZ Plus has a lot of the same characteristics that made the older version great. It is still dual cure with no additional primers needed and with an unlimited depth of cure and decreased micro gaps and leakage. The changes come with increased chameleon effect, shade-matching, and wear resistance. To do this, Zest incorporated 80 nm spherical zirconia fillers. This provides a better blend of shade between the Bulk EZ Plus and natural tooth structure. These fillers also allow Bulk EZ Plus to polish better and maintain that polish while preventing wear. Not to say that these were huge problems with Bulk EZ, but improvement in these key areas is always useful.
Bulk EZ Plus, like Bulk EZ, uses dual-cure “Intellitek Technology” to give an unlimited depth of cure and a great reduction of polymerization shrinkage from other traditional resin composite systems. Bulk EZ Plus and Bulk EZ handle almost like a flowable composite and come in an auto-mix syringe. There are two different tips for the Bulk EZ Plus syringe, 17 and 19 gauge. Depending on your preference, the 19 gauge would work better for more conservative restorations, while the 17 gauge would be better for larger ones. Since Bulk EZ Plus is dual cure, the material in the tip sets up, so if you’re doing a quadrant of restorations at varying steps, you’ll need a new tip each time.
One key to the Bulk EZ Plus process is ensuring we take the time for delayed polymerization. Once Bulk EZ Plus is placed into a preparation, you have some time to manipulate and shape it, just like any resin composite material. Usually, once you’ve shaped it to where you want it, you’d light-cure it immediately. That should not be done with Bulk EZ Plus. Once it is placed into the preparation, you should wait 90 seconds before you light-cure. This delay in polymerization is what helps keep polymerization shrinkage and microgaps to a minimum.
Bulk EZ Plus is an amazing restorative material for most posterior restorations. I like it the most on class I and class II restorations. I find the adaptability along with the extremely low polymerization shrinkage to be a great combo for these situations.
