Reduced irradiation time in slow-curing of resin composite using an intensity-changeable light source

Possibility to shorten the total irradiation time in slow-curing with an intensity-changeable light source, Curetron 7 (CT-7), was investigated for four hybrid-type resin composites. Irradiation condition with CT-7 was assigned as 10 or 20 seconds at low light intensity (230 mW/cm2) and followed by 20 or 10 seconds at high intensity (600 mW/cm2) respectively (i.e., a total of 30 seconds). For a reference, irradiation was carried out for 30 seconds using a halogen lamp (900 mW/cm2). After irradiation, mechanical properties of the cured composites--in terms of microhardness and flexural strength--were evaluated. Also, cavity adaptation was examined in standardized, cylindrical dentin cavities treated with an adhesive system. Compared to the reference irradiation, slow-curing with CT-7 produced acceptable mechanical properties and better adaptation. These results suggested that total exposure time of slow-curing with CT-7 could be shortened to 30 seconds.