Fracture toughness of dental restorative materials

Clin Oral Investig. 2012 Apr;16(2):489-98. doi: 10.1007/s00784-011-0525-z. Epub 2011 Mar 2.

Abstract

The ability of a restorative material to withstand fracture is of crucial importance especially in stress-bearing area. Therefore, the study aims to analyse the fracture toughness of a large number of dental restorative materials categories. The fracture toughness (K(IC)) of 69 restorative materials belonging to ten materials categories-micro-hybrid, nanofilled, microfilled, packable, ormocer-based, and flowable resin-based composites (RBC), compomers and flowable compomers, as well as glass ionomer cements (GIC) and resin-modified GIC was measured by means of the single-edge notched-beam method after storing the samples (n = 8) for 24 h in distilled water. Data were analyzed with the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey's test and partial eta-squared statistics (p < 0.05). Large variations between the tested materials within a material category were found. The lowest fracture toughness was reached in the GIC group, followed by the microfilled RBCs, resin-modified GIC, and flowable compomers, which do not differ significantly among each other as a material group. The ormocer-based, packable, and micro-hybrid RBCs performed statistically similar, reaching the highest fracture toughness values. Between the two categories of flowables-composites and compomers-no differences were measured. The correlation between K(IC) and filler volume (0.34) and respective filler weight (0.40) was low. K(IC) increased with the volume fraction of fillers until a critical value of 57%, following with a plateau, with constant values until ca. 65% volume fraction. Above this value, K(IC) decreased slightly. Due to the very large variability of the fracture toughness within a material type, the selection of a suitable restorative material should have not been done with respect to a specific material category, especially in stress-bearing areas, but by considering the individual measured material properties.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate / chemistry
  • Ceramics / chemistry
  • Compomers / chemistry
  • Composite Resins / chemistry
  • Dental Materials / chemistry*
  • Glass / chemistry
  • Glass Ionomer Cements / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Materials Testing
  • Methacrylates / chemistry
  • Nanocomposites / chemistry
  • Organically Modified Ceramics
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry
  • Polymethacrylic Acids / chemistry
  • Polyurethanes / chemistry
  • Resin Cements / chemistry
  • Silanes / chemistry
  • Siloxanes / chemistry
  • Stress, Mechanical
  • Surface Properties
  • Time Factors
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Compomers
  • Composite Resins
  • Dental Materials
  • Glass Ionomer Cements
  • Methacrylates
  • Organically Modified Ceramics
  • Polymethacrylic Acids
  • Polyurethanes
  • Resin Cements
  • Silanes
  • Siloxanes
  • fiberglass
  • Water
  • urethane dimethacrylate luting resin
  • triethylene glycol dimethacrylate
  • 2,2-bis-(4-(2-methacryloxyethoxy)phenyl)propane
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate