Preparation and characterization of a BisGMA-resin dental restorative composites with glass, silica and titania fillers

A photo-polymerizable Bisphenol-A diglycidylether methacrylate resin was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy after its irradiation under different conditions to identify the best curing. Bonding-agent free composites with particles of ball-milled glass, silica and titania at loading of 10 and 50%wt were prepared, and their viscoelastic properties investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis, in experimental conditions close to the working environment in the mouth. All composites showed good stability at the considered conditions. The stiffest composite was the silica one, which was based on the smallest primary particles. The storage moduli close to room temperature (25°C) and mastication frequency (1 Hz) were extracted as reference bending moduli for the materials, and compared to static compressive moduli measured by nanoindentation performed by atomic force microscopy. Nanoindentation showed qualitative results in agreement with dynamic mechanical analysis as to the ranking of different materials, while resulting in approximately two-fold elastic modulus.