BisGMA analogues as monomers and diluents for dental restorative composite materials

Current commercially available dental composite materials have certain limitations for their use, including high monomer viscosity and high polymerization shrinkage, resulting in residual stresses and interfacial gaps. This study focused on the chemical modification of resin monomer bisphenol A-glycidyl methacrylate (bisGMA), so as to reduce the viscosity and polymerization shrinkage. In this design, the hydroxyl groups of bisGMA were transformed into ester groups with various alkyl chain length and branching. The modified monomers showed promising properties including reduced viscosity, reduced polymerization shrinkage, increased hydrophobicity, increased degree of double bond conversion, and improved mechanical properties of the resulting dental resin composites. The structure/property relationships of the new monomers were investigated, and optimal monomer structures were identified for dental composites with improved properties.