Abstract
Mechanical properties and microleakage of two composites [conventional hybrid type DenFil (VERICOM Co., Anyang, Korea) / micro matrix hybrid type Esthet X (Dentsply Caulk, Milford, DE, U.S.A.)] were evaluated to assess whether variable light intensity curing is better than conventional curing technique. Curing was done for 40 seconds in two ways of 2 step soft-start technique and 5 step ramping technique. Three kinds of light intensities of 50, 100, $200{\;}mW/\textrm{cm}^2$ were initially used for 10, 20, 30 seconds each and the maximum intensity of $600 {\;}mW/\textrm{cm}^2$ was used for the rest of curing time in a soft-start curing tech nique. In a ramping technique, curing was done with the same initial intensities and the light intensity was increased 5 times with the same rate to the maximum intensity of $600{\;}mW/\textrm{cm}^2$. After determining conditions that showed no different mechanical properties with conventional technique, Esthet X composite was filled in a class V cavity, which dimension was $4{\times}3{\times}1.5{\;}mm$ and cured under those conditions. Microleakage was evaluated in two ways of dye penetration and maximum gap estimation through SEM observation. ANOVA and Spearman's rho test were used to confirm any statistical significance among groups. The results were as follows : 1 Several curing conditions of variable light intensities resulted in the similar mechanical properties with a conventional continuous curing technique, except conditions that start curing with an initial light intensity of $50{\;}mW/\textrm{cm}^2$. 2. Conventional and ramping techniques were better than soft-start technique in mechanical properties of microhardness and compressive strength. 3. Soft-start group that started curing with an initial light intensity of $100{\;}mW/\textrm{cm}^2$ for 10 seconds showed the least dye penetration. Soft-start group that started curing with an initial light intensity of $200{\;}mW/\textrm{cm}^2$ for 10 seconds showed the smallest marginal gap, if there was no difference among groups. 4. Soft-start technique resulted in better dye-proof margin than conventional technique(p=0.014) and ramping technique(p = 0.002). 5. There was a very low relationship(p=0.157) between the methods of dye penetration and marginal gap determination through SEM evaluation. From the results of this study, it was revealed that ramping technique would be better than conventional technique in mechanical properties, however, soft-start technique might be better than conventional one in microleakage. It was concluded that much endeavor should be made to find out the curing conditions, which have advantages of both aspects or to solve these kinds of problems through a novel idea of polymerization.
