Water Sorption Property of Two Different Commercially Available Composite Restorative Material- An In Vitro Study

Abstract

Introduction:  Water absorption is defined as the quantity of water absorbed  through the surface of the material.  Polymerisation reaction is defined as the process of conversion of all the monomer molecules to  polymer chains. Since the composite material is in the oral environment it undergoes a sequence of physical conversions during polymerisation which results in the water absorption.

Aim: The aim of the study is evaluation of the water sorption property of  the two different commercially available composite resin restorative materials.

Materials and methods:  Two different composites were selected for the study and were grouped. Group A includes the Tetric n Ceram bulk fill and Group B includes the te Econom Plus.  The specimen was subjected to thermocycling in a chewing simulator of thousand cycles. After thermocycling the specimen was weighed again to check the water sorption property of the composite materials used.

Results: While analysing the water sorption property and comparing with different materials it was found that Group A (Tetric N ceram bulk fill) composite has comparatively higher water sorption property than the Group B (Te Econom Plus) composite. The statistical analysis of the data was found to be insignificant (P ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion:

  Tetric n ceram bulk fill material resulted in increased water sorption with less solubility in comparison to Te econom plus. Moreover, no statistical difference was encountered after thermocycling between the bulk fill composite material and conventional composite with regards to the water sorption property  and solubility.