Temperature dependence of the dynamic viscoelastic behavior of chemical- and light-cured composites

The relationship of temperature to the viscoelastic properties of six composites, three light-cured and three chemical-cured, was studied, using constant dynamic loading over the narrow range of temperatures (20-60 degrees C) which can be encountered in the mouth. The parameters measured were: storage modulus G(1), loss modulus G(2), tan delta, quality factor Q, coefficient of decay alpha, and dynamic viscosity. It was found that the dynamic viscoelastic properties of the tested materials are temperature-dependent, but probably not to a clinically significant degree. Chemical-and light-cured composites of the same filler loading do not exhibit significantly different viscoelastic dynamic properties.