Properties of a dental resin composite with a spherical inorganic filler

This study compared the mechanical properties, generalized wear resistance and polymerization shrinkage of a resin composite filled with spherical inorganic filler to other commercial resin composites. Six dental resin composites were tested, including a submicron filled composite (Estelite sigma, Estelite), 1 nano-composite (Filtek Supreme, Supreme), 2 microfilled composites (Heliomolar; Renamel Microfill, Renamel) and 2 microhybrid composites (Esthet X Improved; Tetric Ceram). Compressive strength (CS), diametral tensile strength (DTS), flexural strength (FS), flexural modulus (FM), generalized wear resistance (WV) and polymerization shrinkage (PS) were evaluated for the 6 materials. The specimens were cured according to the manufacturers' instructions in appropriate molds, stored (37 degrees C water, 24 hours), then tested on an Instron testing machine (0.5 mm/minute). PS was tested according to the Archimedes method at 1, 24 and 48 hours continually after polymerization. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance. The results showed that CS values ranged from 252 to 298 MPa, DTS ranged from 35 to 54 MPa, FS from 73 to 140 MPa, FM from 4.8 to 11.1 GPa, WV from 0.037 to 0.086 mm(3) and PS at 24 hours from 2.17 to 3.96 vol%. Composite had statistically significant influence on the in vitro properties tested. Estelite performed similarly to nano-composite and microhybrid composites in mechanical properties and generalized wear resistance, while Estelite and Supreme had the lowest PS among the materials tested. The 2 microhybrid materials had similar properties, while the 2 microfilled composites were different for most properties tested. Overall, the microfilled composites had lower strength than the other composites except Renamel for CS. All the materials had a similar shrinkage pattern in that about 99% of shrinkage occurred in less than 24 hours.