Journal of Dental Research, Vol 75, 1607-1612, Copyright © 1996 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
The influence of comonomer composition on dimethacrylate resin properties for dental composites
K. S. Anseth, M. D. Goodner, M. A. Reil, A. R. Kannurpatti, S. M. Newman and C. N. Bowman
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309-0424, USA.
During the polymerization of multifunctional monomers for dental
restorations, typical final double-bond conversions range from 55 to 75%.
The low conversion results in a large amount of extractable monomer,
reduced adhesion to the filler, and the potential for increased swelling.
In this work, the ability to increase the maximum conversion by optimizing
the copolymer composition is explored. A series of multi-ethylene glycol
dimethacrylate monomers of various lengths was used as a model system to
determine how the copolymer composition affects the final conversion, the
mechanical properties, and the predicted shrinkage. It was found that the
ultimate conversion can be significantly increased, shrinkage decreased,
and mechanical properties maintained. It was found that up to 30 wt% of
poly(ethylene glycol) 600 dimethacrylate could be added to diethylene
glycol dimethacrylate without reducing the strength and increasing the
conversion. Results for other comonomer combinations were similar.
