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Thursday 29 April 2010

News from Esstech, Inc.

Esstech, Inc. develops and manufactures advanced materials for many biomedical fields including dental materials. In their range of products are various monomers, initiators, silanated glass etc. for resin-based composites and adhesive systems. The latest research by or using Esstech's products includes studies on physical properties of new low shrink resin , optimizing the degee of conversion and certain physical properties of various BisGMA/BisEMA/TEGDMA formulations , optimizing silanated glass , developing a high molecular mass monomer to substitute HEMA etc.

For more information, check out their website and blog.

Esstech, Inc. will be present at the IADR/AADR General Session in Barcelona, Spain (14-17 July 2010) and I really look forward to meeting their representatives, hoping that we could establish scientific collaboration.

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Sunday 21 March 2010

Filtek Silorane composite: temperature changes during light-curing

Some time ago, my colleagues and I published a paper on temperature changes during curing of Filtek Silorane, Admira (ormocer) and Herculite XRV (microhybrid, control) composites. It was interesting to notice substantially higher temperature rise in Filtek Silorane compared to the other two materials. However, there was no difference in the temperature rise inside the pulp chamber, probably due to the insulating effect of the remaining dentine.

The abstract of this paper may be found on MEDLINE and I will be happy to email the full text to anyone interested in this subject. Feel free to contact me at vesna.miletic@gmail.com

J Esthet Restor Dent 2009;21(2):122-31.
Temperature changes in silorane-, ormocer-, and dimethacrylate-based composites and pulp chamber roof during light-curing.
Miletic V, Ivanovic V, Dzeletovic B, Lezaja M.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Light-curing of resin-based composites (RBCs) is associated with temperature increase in the pulp chamber, which may have a detrimental effect on the vital pulp.
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate temperature changes of silorane-, ormocer-, and dimethacrylate-based RBCs at the bottom surface of the RBC and in the pulp chamber roof dentin (PCRD) during curing.  
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In part A, temperatures were measured for Filtek LS (3M ESPE, St. Paul, MN, USA), Admira (Voco GmbH, Cuxhaven, Germany), and Herculite XRV (Kerr Corp., Orange, CA, USA) with a high-power light-emitting diode (LED) unit by placing thermocouples in contact with the bottom surface of the material in standardized acrylic molds. In part B, temperature changes in PCRD were measured in extracted molars during light-curing of adhesives and RBCs in 2-mm-deep cavities with a remaining dentin thickness (RDT) of 1 mm.
RESULTS: Filtek LS showed a different temperature curve compared with Admira and Herculite XRV. Significantly higher temperatures were recorded for Filtek LS (p < 0.001) than for Admira and Herculite XRV in acrylic molds. Temperature rises recorded in PCRD for adhesives and RBCs were between 4.1 and 6.4 degrees C. No significant differences in PCRD temperatures were found between the three groups during adhesive curing and RBC curing (p > 0.05).  
CONCLUSIONS: Filtek LS showed a different heat-generation pattern from and significantly higher temperatures than Admira and Herculite XRV when the materials were tested in acrylic molds. Similar temperatures were recorded in the PCRD during curing of adhesives and RBCs.
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Although a substantial temperature rise in the bulk material occurred during light-curing of the three resin-based composites, a remaining dentin thickness of 1 mm caused a significant reduction in pulp chamber roof dentin temperatures. Temperatures measured in the pulp chamber roof dentin corresponding to the zone occupied by the postmitotic odontoblast layer were not statistically different for the three types of resin-based composites.

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Wednesday 17 March 2010

Free live dental webinar @ GC Learning

Glass Ionomers: A Therapeutic Alternative to Direct Composite Restorations
Presenter: Dr Daniel Ward, D.D.S.
Time: 23-March-2010. 7:00 pm ET (midnight, 12 am GMT, 24-March-2010)

This webinar is credited with 1 CE credit.
Prior to entering the class, you have to create an account for free.

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Sunday 14 March 2010

News from jobs.ac.uk

Reader in Biomaterials
The University of Manchester - School of Materials

Salary: £46,510 - £60,685 p.a.
Application deadline: 23 - March - 2010
Click here for more information.

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Friday 12 March 2010

Refractive Index of Methacrylate Monomers & Polymers

It is my pleasure to share this post originally published by Esstech, Inc. www.esstechinc.com
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TECHNICAL BULLETIN:  Refractive Index of Monomers and Their Respective Polymers

The refractive index (RI) of photopolymers is an essential property for many applications.  For optical and coating applications, the RI can be related to the resultant gloss or clarity upon cure.  Within the dental industry, the refractive index of the organic polymer matrix, must match that of the inorganic filler and substrate in order to avoid obvious “lines” where the product is applied.

Various factors affect refractive index values.  The presence of conjugated ring structures contributes to increasing RI.  In general, larger molecular weight monomers have a tendency to possess a higher RI in comparison to their lower molecular weight counterparts.  Similar to this trend, high molecular weight functional groups like methacrylates have higher RI than their acrylate counterparts. Higher atomic weight atoms also seem to be predisposed to having higher RI.

Recognizing the importance of refractive index to our customers, Esstech has assembled RI data for a portion of our existing monomer products as well as their corresponding homopolymers.


Maintaining its position as an industry innovator, Esstech has also created functional, high refractive index materials.  Contact us to learn more about these novel materials and how Esstech can make a material to match your application.

 (P) 800-245-3800 / (P) 610-521-3800 / techsupport@esstechinc.com / www.esstechinc.com

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Saturday 27 February 2010

The effect of light source on monomer conversion of dental adhesives

The most recent paper by Santini Miletic research group will be published in Journal of Adhesive Dentistry, hopefully in the next issue. The abstract is available on PubMed/MEDLINE.

J Adhes Dent. 2009 Nov 27. doi: 10.3290/j.jad.a17855. [Epub ahead of print]

Micro-Raman Assessment of the Ratio of Carbon-Carbon Double Bonds of Two Adhesive Systems Cured with LED or Halogen Light-curing Units.

Miletic V, Santini A.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare the ratio of carbon-carbon double bonds (RDB) of two adhesive systems cured by five different light-curing units (LCUs) using micro-Raman spectroscopy.
Materials and Methods: Ten samples of an etch-and-rinse (Excite), a two-step self-etching adhesive system (AdheSE) - ie, primer and bond mixed - and AdheSE Bond only were prepared and cured with one of the following LEDs: Elipar Freelight2; Bluephase; SmartLite; Coltolux, each for 10 s; or a conventional halogen Prismetics Lite for 10 s or 20 s. Micro-Raman spectra were obtained from uncured and cured samples of all three groups to calculate the RDB. Data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA.  
Results: The mean RDB values were 62% to 76% (Excite), 36% to 50% (AdheSE Primer+Bond) and 58% to 63% (AdheSE Bond). At 20 s, Prismetics Lite produced significantly higher RDB in Excite than the other LCUs and Prismetics Lite at 10 s (p < 0.05). Prismetics Lite at 20 s and Elipar produced comparable RDB values of AdheSE Bond and AdheSE Primer+Bond (p > 0.05). Excite showed significantly higher RDB values than AdheSE (p < 0.05) whilst AdheSE Bond showed significantly higher RDB than AdheSE Primer+Bond (p < 0.05).  
Conclusion: The etch-and-rinse adhesive cured with the halogen LCU for 20 s gave higher conversion than LED LCUs or halogen for 10 s curing time. The highest intensity LED [Elipar] produced higher or comparable conversion compared to the lower intensity LED LCUs for the same curing time. The etch-and-rinse adhesive showed higher RDB than the self-etching adhesive system. The presence of the primer in the self-etching adhesive compromised polymerisation.

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Thursday 18 February 2010

News from jobs.ac.uk

PhD Studentship in Biophysical Chemistry
University of Bristol - Department of Oral & Dental Science 
Deadline: February 25, 2010
Salary: around £13,000  plus tuition fees paid.
NB: Applicants should be from the UK or EU. They are unable to support applications from outside the EU.

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