Exploring beyond methacrylates

This article focuses on the polymerization shrinkage of current dental composites as their major disadvantage and to find new routes for a solution.

A brief introduction describes selected methods for the shrinkage determination as well as some principal solutions to overcome the shrinkage problem.

Siloranes, a new class of ring opening monomers, are presented as a promising resin matrix for dental composites. The synthesis of these monomers, and further consequences of the new chemistry for the formulation are discussed. Two selected silorane composites are presented with their mechanical data and their volume shrinkage.