Methods: Ten healthy individuals each had one premolar cavity restored with composite filling material (Z250, 3M Espe). Etching and adhesive procedure with Scotchbond (3M Espe) was performed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Non-stimulated saliva was collected for 15 minutes, before treatment (controls), and 10 minutes, 24 hours, and 7 days after the placement of the filling. Samples were analysed with GC-MS (Thermo Quest Trace GC with Finnigan MD 800 quadrupole MS) and LC-MS/MS (Agilent 1100 Series LC/MSD IonTrap). Tailor-made internal standards were used for quantification.
Results: In samples collected before restorative therapy (controls) no monomers from composite filling materials were found. The monomers HEMA, TEGDMA, UDMA and Bis-GMA were detected in saliva samples after restorative therapy. HEMA was found in all samples collected 10 minutes after treatment in quantities from 0.015 to 0.185 µg/ml saliva. The amount of UDMA and Bis-GMA was quantified in the samples taken 10 minutes after treatment and were from 0.01 to 1.78 µg/ml for UDMA and from 0.03 to 18.93 µg/ml for Bis-GMA. TEGDMA was detected in 4 samples taken after 10 minutes, but the amounts were below quantification limit. No monomers were detected in the saliva samples collected after 24 h and 7 d, except in one of the samples taken after 24 hours, where detectable amounts of HEMA were found.
Conclusion: These results show that monomers (HEMA, UDMA, TEGDMA and Bis-GMA) from the investigated composite filling material and adhesive system was found in saliva shortly after treatment. One week after the treatment the amounts of monomers were below detectable concentrations (S/N<3).