In the present work the elution of residual monomers from light-cured dental resins and resin composites into a 75% ethanol:water solution was studied using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The resins studied were made by light-curing of bisphenol A glycol dimethacrylate (Bis-GMA), triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA), ethoxylated bisphenol A glycol dimethacrylate [Bis-EMA(4)] and mixtures of these monomers. The resin composites were made from two commercial light-cured restorative materials (Z100 MP and Filtek Z250), the resin matrix of which is based on copolymers of these monomers. The effect of the curing time on the amount of monomers eluted was investigated. The concentration of the extractable monomers was determined at several immersion periods from 3 h to 30 days. For all the materials studied, it was observed that the chemical structure of the monomers used for the preparation of the resins, which defines the chemical and physical structure of the corresponding resin, directly affects the amount of eluted monomers, as well as the time needed for the elution of this amount. In the case of composites, it seems that the elution process it is not influenced by the presence of filler.
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