Comparison of dynamic mechanical properties of dentin between deciduous and permanent teeth

Water absorption in artificial composites: Curse or blessing?

OBJECTIVES

This study evaluated the impact of mutable water uptake on the durability of mechanical properties and the long-term reliability of artificial composites.

METHODS

Three resin-based CAD/CAM restorative materials (CRMs) were investigated in three-point bending tests to calculate flexural strength (FS), modulus of elasticity (ME), modulus of resilience (MR), modulus of toughness (MT), and elastic recovery (ER). All specimens (n = 180) were stored under the same conditions and tested in four subsets (n = 15 per material) that were respectively withdrawn after repeated thermocycling (5000 cycles; 5-55 °C, H2O) and repetitive drying (7 d; 37 °C, air). For every specimen, weight differences were determined per storage condition. Likewise, loss tangent data were separately recorded via dynamic mechanical analysis to reliably assess damping characteristics.

RESULTS

Repeated thermocycling always induced weight increase and a concurrent significant loss in all mechanical properties except for MT and ER of a polymethylmethacrylate-based CRM. Drying consistently provoked weight loss and raised mechanical properties to initial values. Weight increase, however, enhanced loss tangent values and accordingly distinct damping characteristics, whereas weight decrease markedly lowered damping properties.

SIGNIFICANCE

Water uptake repeatedly induced a decrease in common mechanical properties but concurrently increased damping behavior. Invertible equilibrium processes were found with no evidence for permanent material degradation.

Damping Behaviour and Mechanical Properties of Restorative Materials for Primary Teeth

The energy dissipation capacity and damping ability of restorative materials used to restore deciduous teeth were assessed compared to common mechanical properties. Mechanical properties (flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, modulus of toughness) for Compoglass F, Dyract eXtra, SDR flow, Tetric Evo Ceram, Tetric Evo Ceram Bulk Fill, and Venus Diamond were determined using a 4-point bending test. Vickers hardness and Martens hardness, together with its plastic index (η_ITdis), were recorded using instrumented indentation testing. Leeb hardness (HLD) and its deduced energy dissipation data (HLD_dis) were likewise determined. The reliability of materials was assessed using Weibull analysis. For common mechanical properties, Venus Diamond always exhibited the significantly highest results and SDR flow the lowest, except for flexural strength. Independently determined damping parameters (modulus of toughness, HLD_dis, η_ITdis) invariably disclosed the highest values for SDR flow. Composite materials, including SDR flow, showed markedly higher reliabilities (Weibull modulus) than Compoglass F and Dyract eXtra. SDR flow showed pronounced energy dissipation and damping characteristics, making it the most promising material for a biomimetic restoration of viscoelastic dentin structures in deciduous teeth. Future developments in composite technology should implement improved resin structures that facilitate damping effects in artificial restorative materials.

Comparison of modern light-curing hybrid resin-based composites to the tooth structure: Static and dynamic mechanical parameters

The study aims to compare the way modern resin-based composites (RBCs) respond to mechanical stress related to the tooth structure they are designed to replace. Eight representative light-cured RBCs, including ormocers, giomers, RBCs with nano and agglomerated nanoparticles, prepolymerized, or compact fillers, were selected. Flexural strength, FS and modulus/E, were measured in a three-point bending test. A fractographic analysis determined the origin of fracture. The quasi-static (indentation hardness/H_IT , indentation modulus/E_IT ) and viscoelastic (storage modulus/E', loss modulus/E″, loss factor/tan δ) behavior was assessed by a depth-sensing indentation test equipped with a dynamic-mechanical analysis module. One and multiple-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) post-hoc tests (α = 0.05), and Weibull statistics were applied. Parameter material exhibited the highest effect on E (p < .001, η_P ²  = .857), followed by FS (η_P ²  = .729), and the strain (η_P ²  = .553). Highest material reliability was identified in the RBCs with nano and agglomerated nanoparticles. The most frequent type of failure originated from volume (81.3%), followed by edge (10.6%), and corner (8.1%) flaws. Enamel evidenced three times higher H_IT , E_IT , and E' values as RBCs and dentin, and the smallest deviation from ideal elasticity. Ormocers exhibited the highest damping capacity, followed by the RBCs with prepolymerized fillers. Damping capacity and static mechanical properties are mutually exclusive. Analyzed RBCs and the tooth structure are better adapted to the relevant frequency for chewing than for higher frequencies. RBCs are comparable to dentin in terms of their mechanical performance, but apart from the damping behavior, they are far inferior to enamel. Damping ability of analyzed material could be exploited for correlation with the clinical behavior.

Case Report: A Novel COL1A1 Missense Mutation Associated With Dentineogenesis Imperfecta Type I

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a clinical and genetic disorder that results in bone fragility, blue sclerae and dentineogenesis imperfecta (DGI), which is mainly caused by a mutation in the COL1A1 or COL1A2 genes, which encode type I procollagen. Case Report: A missense mutation (c.1463G > C) in exon 22 of the COL1A1 gene was found using whole-exome sequencing. However, the cases reported herein only exhibited a clinical DGI-I phenotype. There were no cases of bone disease or any other common abnormal symptom caused by a COL1A1 mutation. In addition, the ultrastructural analysis of the tooth affected with non-syndromic DGI-I showed that the abnormal dentine was accompanied by the disruption of odontoblast polarization, a reduced number of odontoblasts, a reduction in hardness and elasticity, and the loss of dentinal tubules, suggesting a severe developmental disorder. We also investigated the odontoblast differentiation ability using dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) that were isolated from a patient with DGI-I and cultured. Stem cells isolated from patients with DGI-I are important to elucidate their pathogenesis and underlying mechanisms to develop regenerative therapies. Conclusion: This study can provide new insights into the phenotype-genotype association in collagen-associated diseases and improve the clinical diagnosis of OI/DGI-I.

Influence of polymerization pressure and post-cure treatment on conversion degree and viscoelastic properties of polymer infiltrated ceramic network

This study aimed at determining an optimum polymerization pressure for Polymer Infiltrated Ceramic Network (PICN) blocks by characterizing the conversion degree (DC) and the viscoelastic properties of experimental PICN blocks polymerized at 90 °C under various high pressures followed or not by post-cure treatment (PC). Near infrared analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis were used to characterize DC and viscoelastic properties of sixteen PICN: one control (thermo-cured) and fifteen experimental groups (one thermo-cured followed by PC and fourteen high pressure polymerized PICN, in the range of 50-350 MPa without and with PC). Conversion degree of high pressure polymerized PICN blocks without post curing displays an optimum between 100 and 150 MPa resulting in an improved E' and T_g. Post curing induces a higher DC with a controversial effect on thermomechanical properties. The results suggested that 100-150 MPa without PC is an optimum polymerization parameter, resulting in PICN blocks with significantly better DC, T_g, E'.