Impact of Clear Silicon Materials on the Polymerization of Composites

Objectives: A more recent technique called the “injectable resin composite technique” offers a conservative and convenient restorative approach and is based on the same basic principle of the “copy and paste” guided approach of the wax-up. There are different clear silicon materials used for such purpose. However, there is still a question whether light-cured resin composite would have an adequate polymerization through these silicon materials. Thus, the purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the quality of light-curing of resin composite through different clear silicon materials (EXACLEAR, MEMOSIL 2, and Elite Transparent) by evaluating the degree of conversion (DC), flexural strength, and light-transmission.
Methods: Three commercially available resin composites were studied (G-aenial Universal Injectable and everX Flow with both dentin and bulk shades). DC was determined by FTIR-spectrometry (n=5). Three-point flexural test was used for determination of ultimate flexural strength (n=8). Curing-light transmission through different thicknesses (7 and 8 mm) of silicon materials was quantified by MARC calibrator. Data were statistically analyzed with analysis of variance ANOVA (p=0.05) followed by Tukey's post-hoc test.
Results: EXACLEAR showed significantly higher light transmission compared to other used silicon materials (p<0.05). However, the type of silicon material did not show significant (p>0.05) effect on the DC and flexural strength of tested resin composites and differences were material-dependent.
Conclusions: EXACLEAR presented a high light transmission, allowing the correct photopolymerization of the resin composites.