Effect of Filler Distribution on Fracture Resistance of Modern Dental Composites
Abstract
Modern dental restorative composites exhibit features on more than one length scale, ranging from nano- and micro-fillers, to the polymerized macro-state of a high molecular-weight polymeric matrix. This heterogeneous system can play a vital role in determining the bulk material properties and is likely to contain defects or flaws, ranging from millimeters down to nanometers or atomic scale, which can give rise to viscoelastic behavior, manifested as elastic bending or torsion. However, if stresses applied to this composite solid are too excessive, these structural flaws can become unstable and propagate catastrophically, culminating in bulk fracture. Thus, failure of dental composite restorations is closely associated with the fracture processes of the filler-matrix systems [1, 2]. It is the interest of this study to explore the relationship between structural defects and fracture resistance and to understand the effect of a heterogeneous system like dental composite, which contains at least two hierarchy levels, on fracture mechanics. The null hypothesis is: There exists no causal relationship between the dependent variable, fracture toughness, and the included independent variables such as matrix chemistries and filler morphologies, distributions, and size for various modern filler-matrix systems such as hybrid, microfill, and nanohybrid composites.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 13, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1082583
Entities
People
- Carolina Wentworth
- M. R . Mansell
- W. Lien
Organizations
- 59th Medical Wing