Kuraray Europe GmbH

More than 85 years of Kuraray

Established in Kurashiki, Japan, in 1926, the company Kuraray Co. Ltd looks back upon a broad base of experience and technologies in the sectors polymer chemistry, chemical synthesis and chemical engineering.

Starting with the industrial production of synthetic fibers out of viscose, Kuraray soon extended its pioneering technologies and expertise to many more fields of business such as the dental industry, continously providing effective solutions with a high level of service and with focus on the customer.

Inventor of the bonding system

In 1978, five years after entering the field of dental materials, Kuraray’s technological know-how paved the way for adhesive dentistry with the introduction of the first bonding system “CLEARFIL BOND SYSTEM F”. At the same time, the company developed the total-etch technique for enamel and dentin which marked the beginning of minimally invasive dentistry. 

Today, Kuraray continues to steadily produce innovative quality products which meet the requirements of a profession that also develops constantly. Its products that make history – such as PANAVIA™ F2.0, CLEARFIL™ PROTECT BOND, CLEARFIL™ SE BOND, CLEARFIL™ AP-X and ESTENIA™ C&B – are proof of Kuraray’s capability to develop solutions for practice from the results of their pioneering research.

MDP Monomer After Kuraray introduced the first adhesive monomer in dental history by inventing the phosphate monomer Phenyl-P in 1976, its molecular structure was improved in 1981 by creating a molecule with greater adhesive capability to the tooth structure and an affinity for metal. The result of this development work was the MDP monomer (10-Methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate), which convinced users by its special monomer structure: This phosphate monomer was extremely effective for enamel, dentin and on metal alloys. Consequently, PANAVIA™, including the MDP monomer, was introduced as a high-performance adhesive resin cement for the cementation to tooth structure and to metals. The impressive success of PANAVIA™ encouraged Kuraray to integrate the MDP monomer into other bonding systems as well as to obtain a high degree of adhesion to tooth substrate from the formation of a chemical bonding.