The effect of preheating and opacity on the sorption and solubility of a composite resin

This study evaluated the influence of material opacity and preheating on the sorption and solubility of a composite resin material. A commercially available composite resin and an 8 × 2-mm circular metallic matrix were used to fabricate a total of 60 specimens in 6 shades, of which 3 had conventional opacity (CA2, CA3, and CA3.5) and 3 were opaque (OA2, OA3, and OA3.5). Specimens were prepared at a room temperature of 25°C or preheated to 60°C (n = 5 per shade at each temperature). The specimens were weighed 3 times: M1, dried for 24 hours at 37°C; M2, stored for 7 days in 75% ethanol at 37°C; and M3, dried for an additional 24 hours at 37°C. The weights were used to calculate the sorption and solubility of the composite resin and were analyzed using 2-way analysis of variance and Tukey tests (α = 5%). Composite resin specimens heated at 60°C yielded lower values of sorption and solubility than did specimens prepared at 25°C (P < 0.05). The sorption and solubility of conventional and opaque composite shades were found to be similar (P > 0.05), except for shade CA2, which presented a greater mean solubility value than OA2 (P = 0.004). Therefore, preheating was beneficial, as it lowered both the sorption and solubility of the evaluated composite resin, but opacity had little effect on these properties.