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Novel dual-capsule dental resin for crack-sensing, self-healing and self-warning
Xinying Qiu1, Xueye Liu1, Yuening Qi1
1Department of Prosthodontics, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University & Shandong Key Laboratory of Oral Tissue Regeneration & Shandong Engineering Research Center of Dental Materials and Oral Tissue Regeneration & Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Jinan 250012, China.
Objective:
Micro-cracks are one of the primary causes of failure in dental resin restorations. Incorporating self-healing microcapsules into dental resins offers a promising strategy to mitigate such failures. However, the initiation sites and propagation extent of micro-cracks remain difficult to predict. To address this issue, a dual-capsule resin with a self-healing agent (TD-MCs) and aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIE-MCs) was designed for real-time crack detection and self-healing monitoring.
Methods:
Two differently colored carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and incorporated into MCs, while the traditional AIEgens tetraphenylethylene (TPE) was also encapsulated, resulting in three types of AIE-MCs. These three AIE-MCs were layered into the resin at the lowest mass fraction (7.5 wt%) at which fluorescence was visible to the naked eye. MCs containing self-healing liquid (TD-MCs) were added with different mass fractions (0 wt%, 2.5 wt%, 5 wt%, 7.5 wt%, 10 wt%). The mechanical properties, water contact angle, thermal stability, self-healing efficiency, and biocompatibility of resin samples were systematically evaluated.
Results:
A damage-indicating, self-healing dental resin was successfully developed. Incorporation of 7.5 wt% AIE-MCs enabled fluorescence visible to the naked eye, while the additional inclusion of 7.5 wt% TD-MCs achieved self-healing efficiencies of 62.7%, 63.3%, and 64.2%. Importantly, these modifications did not significantly affect the resin's mechanical properties, hydrophilicity, thermal stability, or cytocompatibility (p > 0.05).
Significance:
Inspired by skin bruising, this study integrates "signal" and "healing" microcapsules into a dental resin to construct a closed-loop system capable of crack sensing, self-healing, and self-warning. The real-time feedback generated from this can assist in clinically assessing the quality and lifespan of the restoration. This creative design provides new inspiration and a theoretical basis for the development of next-generation intelligent, responsive dental materials.
