Dental Composites

Question 1

Curing lights

Answer 1

• dental LED curing lights use LED’s that produce a narrow spectrum of blue light in the 400-500 nm range which is the useful energy range for activating the camphorquinone molecule most commonly used to initiate the photo-polymerization of dental monomers.

Question 2

Resin Composite Applications

Answer 2

• cavity and crown restoration materials
• adhesive bonding agents
• pit and fissure sealants
• endodontic sealants
• bonding of ceramic veneers
• and cementation for crowns, bridges, and other fixed prostheses

Question 3

Dental Filler

Answer 3

• various transparent mineral fillers are employed to strengthen and reinforce composites as well as to reduce curing shrinkage and thermal expansion.
  -there include “soft glass” and borosilicate “hour glass”, fused quartz, aluminum silicate, lithium aluminum silicate (beta-eucryptite, which has a negative coefficient of thermal expansion), ytterbium, fluoride, and barium, strontium, zirconium, and zinc glasses.

Question 4

Nanofilled and hybrid resin composites

Answer 4

• materials that integrate a high concentration of nanoparticles into resin composites to enhance mechanical properties, handling, and ease of polishing. The first generation of nanofilled materials was easy to polish but did not hold its luster over time and appeared dull to patients. Changes in their composition have led to improved materials that are more esthetic, very easy to polish, and better maintain their luster over time

Question 5

Glass ionomer restorative materials

Answer 5

• not commonly used when esthetics is a major consideration in anterior restorations. They are often recommended for patients with high caries risk. The traditional chemically cure glass-ionomer materials are not highly esthetic, but esthetics has been greatly improved in the resin-modified glass-ionomer materials