Degradation resistance of silorane, experimental ormocer and dimethacrylate resin-based dental composites

There are several degradation mechanisms of resin-composite restorations and possible deleterious effects created by leached components cannot be ignored. Additionally, the surface integrity influences the long-term clinical performance of resin-composite restorations and can be affected by several factors. Novel technologies have been proposed, but there is a lack of information considering the degradation resistance of such materials. The aim of this study was to investigate the degradation resistance of silorane (SIL), pure-ormocer (ORM) and dimethacrylate (ELS and GRD) resin-based dental composites. Water sorption and solubility tests were adapted from ISO4049, color change trough the CIELab parameters after 24h and 30d immersion in distilled water. Knoop hardness readings were performed at the aforementioned periods and the percentage of hardness decrease was considered. Results were analyzed with one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's test (P = 0.05). SIL and GRD produced lower water sorption than ORM and ELS. SIL presented the lowest solubility. All materials demonstrated acceptable results for color stability. SIL demonstrated the more stable surface, when considering surface hardness, in aqueous environment. It can be concluded that i) silorane and ormocer-based materials did not produced higher color stability than dimethacrylates in distilled aqueous media; and ii) silorane-based materials exhibited lower water solubility and lower hardness decreases after water immersion than dimethacrylate-based resin-composites, while the pure-ormocer-baed material not.