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In vitro fatigue behavior of restorative composites and glass ionomers
M J Braem1, P Lambrechts, S Gladys
1University of Antwerp - RUCA, Dental Propedeutics, Antwerp, Belgium.
Objectives:
This in vitro study was conducted to investigate the fatigue behavior of several dental restoratives, including composites, glass ionomers and a resin-reinforced glass ionomer.
Methods:
Fatigue was imposed under a reverse stress-controlled regimen, following a staircase approach. Samples were stored and tested under both dry and wet conditions. The following parameters were measured and analyzed: Young's modulus, restrained fracture strength, and flexural fatigue limit.
Results:
As a general trend, all products showed a decrease in Young's modulus following water sorption. For all products except the resin-reinforced glass ionomer, the same trend was seen in the restrained fracture strength. This is, however, no longer valid for the flexural fatigue limit: the trend is steady-state for the glass ionomers, status quo for the resin-reinforced glass ionomer, and all composites tested show a decrease.
Significance:
The diversity in structure of both composites and glass ionomers does not allow findings for one product to be extrapolated to other similar products.