The fracture toughness of tooth coloured restorative materials

A fracture mechanics approach has been used to quantify the failure of tooth coloured restorative materials which are subjected to tensile forces. The materials examined included silicates, glass ionomers, composites (both chemically and photo-initiated) and bonding resins for composites. The parameter chosen was the plane strain critical stress intensification factor, KIC. Silicate and glass ionomer are both brittle and have values for KIC inferior to those of composites. Composites have fracture toughnesses in a range from marginally higher than that of the bonding resin to almost three times that figure. The reason for this is discussed in terms of the dispersion toughening theories.