Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026
05:30
Roughness Impact of Piezoelectric Dental Scaler on Two Distinct Flowable Composite Filling Materials
Published on: January 10, 2025
Acoustic emission analysis of tooth-composite interfacial debonding
N Y Cho1, J L Ferracane, I B Lee
1Department of Conservative Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Journal of Dental Research
|October 27, 2012
Summary
Acoustic emission (AE) analysis revealed that reducing composite shrinkage minimizes tooth-composite debonding during dental restorations. Lower shrinkage composites and specific adhesives showed fewer AE events, indicating improved interfacial integrity.
Area of Science:
- Dental Materials Science
- Biomaterials Engineering
- Acoustic Emission Analysis
Background:
- Tooth-composite interfacial debonding is a critical failure mode in dental restorations.
- Polymerization shrinkage of dental composites generates stress, potentially leading to marginal gaps and secondary caries.
- Understanding the real-time kinetics of interfacial debonding is crucial for improving restoration longevity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detect tooth-composite interfacial debonding during restoration using acoustic emission (AE) analysis.
- To investigate the influence of composite properties (shrinkage, modulus) and adhesive types on AE characteristics.
- To correlate AE events with polymerization shrinkage and shrinkage stress.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated polymerization shrinkage, peak shrinkage rate, flexural modulus, and shrinkage stress of three composite types (methacrylate-based universal hybrid, flowable, silorane-based).
- Restored Class I cavities in extracted premolars using different composite-adhesive combinations (2 etch-and-rinse, 2 self-etch, 1 silorane-specific).
- Monitored interfacial events using acoustic emission (AE) analysis for 2,000 seconds during light-curing.
Main Results:
- The silorane-based composite exhibited significantly lower shrinkage, slower peak shrinkage rate, reduced shrinkage stress, and fewer AE events.
- AE events initiated earlier with self-etch adhesives compared to etch-and-rinse adhesives.
- A strong correlation was observed between reduced composite shrinkage (rate) and decreased shrinkage stress and interfacial debonding (fewer AE events).
Conclusions:
- Acoustic emission (AE) analysis is an effective real-time monitoring technique for tooth-composite interfacial debonding.
- Minimizing composite polymerization shrinkage is key to reducing interfacial stress and improving restoration integrity.
- Composite and adhesive selection significantly impacts the likelihood of interfacial debonding during curing.
