Flexural Properties of Bulk Fill and Nano Hybrid Composites

Method: The three-point bending test was performed to determine the flexural properties (flexural strength (FS) and modulus (FM)). To make the specimens, a metal mold (25×2×2 mm) was filled with the resin according to the ISO 4049 guidelines. Tetric N Ceram(TNC), Tetric N Ceram Bulk(TBF)(İvoclar Vivadent), Surefill (SDR)(Dentsply), Filtek Z550(FK) (3M ESPE) were chosen for this study. After light curing, specimen was removed from the mold the specimens (n=10 for each test condition) were loaded to a universal test machine (Shimadzu AG-5 KN; Shimadzu Corp, Tokyo, Japan).The results were statistically analysed using the SPSS Statistics 22 for Windows (one way ANOVA, post hoc Tamhane’s T2 test) at a significance p<0.01.

Result: There were statistically significant differences between the tested groups (p: 0.001, p<0.01). The highest flexural strength values were observed for FK group (158,49±30,98 MPa) and significantly higher than the other groups. The highest flexural modulus values were observed for FK group (33,81±6,62 GPa) and significantly higher than the other groups. There were no statistically significant differences between other tested groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study bulk fill composites and one of the nano hybrid composite are similar to each other in their flexural strength and flexural modulus. Bulk fill composites may be advantageous for clinicans due to reduced application times.