The degree of conversion (DC) and the released bisphenol A diglycidyl ether dimethacrylate (BisGMA), triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) and urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) monomers of bulk-fill composites compared to that of conventional flowable ones were assessed using micro-Raman spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Four millimeter-thick samples were prepared from SureFil SDR Flow (SDR), X-tra Base (XB), Filtek Bulk Fill (FBF) and two and four millimeter samples from Filtek Ultimate Flow (FUF). They were measured with micro-Raman spectroscopy to determine the DC% of the top and the bottom surfaces. The amount of released monomers in 75% ethanol extraction media was measured with HPLC. The differences between the top and bottom DC% were significant for each material. The mean DC values were in the following order for the bottom surfaces: SDR_4mm_20s > FUF_2mm_20s > XB_4mm_20s > FBF_4mm_20s > XB_4mm_10s > FBF_4mm_10s > FUF_4mm_20s. The highest rate in the amount of released BisGMA and TEGDMA was found from the 4 mm-thick conventional flowable FUF. Among bulk-fills, FBF showed a twenty times higher amount of eluted UDMA and twice more BisGMA; meanwhile, SDR released a significantly higher amount of TEGDMA. SDR bulk-fill showed significantly higher DC%; meanwhile XB, FBF did not reach the same level DC, as that of the 2 mm-thick conventional composite at the bottom surface. Conventional flowable composites showed a higher rate of monomer elution compared to the bulk-fills, except FBF, which showed a high amount of UDMA release.
Keywords: HPLC; bulk-fill composite; degree of conversion; micro-Raman spectroscopy; monomer elution.