A New Laboratory Polymerizing Apparatus Equipped with Different Light Sources

Objectives:We developed a new laboratory-polymerizing unit (Twinkle MIII: M3) equipped with different light sources (a metal halide and two halogen lamps) that can illuminate independently. This study introduces the structure of the curing unit and examines the curing depth of a representative indirect composite (Artglass). Methods:The composite material was cured with the following modes, 1) M3 - halogen only, 2) M3 - metal halide only, 3) M3 - both halogen and metal halide (HM), 4) conventional xenon, and 5) preliminary halogen. Results:The average curing depth (in mm) of the M3 unit for 20 s with standard deviations in parentheses were: 0.97 (0.05) for 1), 1.77 (0.02) for 2), and 2.00 (0.05) for 3) (n=5). The results analyzed by analysis of variances and post-hoc tests revealed that the curing depth was affected significantly (p < 0.05) by both exposure mode and time and that the curing performance of the HM mode was the greatest (p < 0.05) among the other units and polymerization modes. Conclusions:The M3 unit was found to be well suited to polymerizing the composite material tested. Supported in part by a grant from JSPS-Japan, C(2) 13672045 and B(2) 16390566.