An energy conversion relationship predictive of conversion profiles and depth of cure for resin-based composite

Predicting the polymerization throughout resin-based composite (RBC) has been reduced to a set of variables involving irradiance of the light source, exposure duration and RBC transmission properties, together with an energy-conversion relationship (ECR) derived from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic analysis (FTIR) of a single shade of photo-polymerized RBC. The ECR describes the localized energy density required to achieve a desired conversion independent of shade. Using this ECR, conversion was predicted and experimentally verified throughout different opacities of RBC based on knowledge of their transmission properties and the incident radiant energy density (irradiance times exposure time). Also, using RBC transmission properties, a critical scrape-back energy of approximately 32 mJcm(-2) was determined from cylindrical samples of photo-polymerized RBC in which the poorly polymerized material was removed. This value correlates to approximately 22% conversion. The critical scrape-back energy was then used to predict scrape-back lengths obtained from samples polymerized at various energy densities. These results confirm the logarithmic relationship between depth of cure and energy of exposure and the reciprocal relationship between irradiance and time of exposure.