Handling, Mechanical, and Wear Properties of Recent Flowable Resin Composites

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the handling and mechanical properties, and wear resistance of recent developed flowable resin composites.
Methods: Six flowable resin composites, Beatifil Flow Plus F00 (BF; Shofu), Clearfil Majesty ES Flow (CE; Kuraray Noritake Dental), Estelite Universal Flow (EU; Tokuyama Dental), Filtek Supreme Ultra Flowable Restorative (FS; 3M ESPE), G-ænial Universal Flow (GU; GC), and Gracefil Zero Flow (GZ; GC) were used. For handling properties, a universal testing machine was used for determination of the extrusion force from a syringe. In addition, a creep meter was used to evaluate the thread formation of the tested materials. For mechanical properties, flexural strength, elastic modulus, and resilience were evaluated following the ISO 4049 specifications. Ten specimens per test group were subjected to the three-point bending test using a universal testing machine. Twelve specimens of each tested materials were used to examine wear resistance using a sliding impact wear testing machine. For the wear-simulation test, the antagonists directly impacted the specimens from above with a maximum force of 50 N at a rate of 0.5 Hz and then slid horizontally for a distance of 2 mm. Each specimen was subjected to 50,000 cycles of sliding impact motion.
Results: The handling, flexural, and wear properties were material dependent. Representative results are shown in the table below.
Conclusions: Although the characteristics of recent flowable resin composites are different, the results suggest that recent flowable resin composites have good handling properties and have sufficient mechanical properties and wear resistance for clinical use.