Restoring the Unrestorable - A Minimally Invasive Approach

At what point do we classify a tooth as unrestorable? If caries is subgingival? If there is a vertical fracture line? After an oblique cusp fracture? Whatever it is that determines the restorability of the tooth, we ideally want to stave off the often inevitable extraction and implant for as long as possible. After all, there is no better implant than an actual tooth.

This lecture will present the concept that minimally invasive adhesive dentistry carried out under rubber dam isolation has the potential to hit the pause button on the perpetually advancing restorative cycle. Rubber dam isolation enables access that would otherwise be impossible while adhesive dentistry techniques such as deep margin elevation facilitate the placement of conservative, defect driven direct and indirect restorations without the need for considering retention and resistance form. The end result? Restoring the unrestorable and giving teeth a second wind.

1. Acknowledge and understand that minimally invasive adhesive dentistry and rubber dam isolation go hand in hand - one cannot be done without the other.
2. Explore evidence-based advances in bonding protocols and operative dentistry techniques that are resulting in very encouraging long term prognoses for even heavily restored teeth.
3. Understand the methodology and appreciate the significance of techniques such as deep margin elevation when restoring ‘unrestorable’ teeth.

Presenter

Céline Higton, BDS Hons.

Céline studied dentistry at King’s College London, graduating in 2016 with honours. She is a keen advocate for the use of minimally invasive and adhesive approaches to restorative dentistry and has become a leading educator in this field, especially on the topics of rubber dam isolation and direct composites. In 2023 she was invited to become a member of Bio-Emulation, a group that champions these minimally invasive techniques and that truly aligns with her “raison d’être” in dentistry.

In January 2025 she joined the full-time faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as the new director of restorative dentistry. This position has given her the opportunity to apply her zeal for education to the very first stages of dental training. From a post graduate perspective, she has lectured for organisations such as the AARD, the Seattle Study Club, the AACD, the BACD, the ITI and the BDA and has also developed and delivered numerous sell out hands-on courses and virtual webinars both in the UK and internationally.

She is passionate about the provision of top-quality dentistry and through the delivery of her post graduate education programmes and her educational role at the University of Pennsylvania she strives to inspire both the dentists of today and of tomorrow to love what they do and to be the very best clinicians that they can possibly be.