Keynote Address: Curing at Light Speed. Can We Defy Laws of Physics?

Several concurrent light curing trends intended to reduce steps and save time in the restorative procedure have been rapidly evolving. The simultaneous development of bulk curing restorative materials with reduced shrinkage stress and recent advances in high intensity LED curing lights has created an expectation of single-increment composite placement requiring significantly reduced curing times. Photo-curing of dental composites is governed by an array of complex interactions such as light intensity, exposure time, photoinitiator system, initiator/light source spectral overlap and the collective material optical properties. As a consequence, light curing of today’s dental materials may not be as simple as light on and light off.   This presentation will attempt to provide some insights into the complexities of photopolymerization and establish if these recent trends are realistic expectations or dreams that are too good to be true.