Effect of Beverages on Viscoelastic Properties of Resin-Based Dental Composites

The viscoelastic properties of three commercially available resin-based composites (Filtek P60, Filtek Supreme, and Filtek Z250; 3M ESPE, Bracknell, UK) were measured to determine the effect of beverages on their storage moduli and damping ratios. Rectangular samples of the three hybrid composites were immersed in three beverages at 37 degrees C for 1, 7, 30, and 60 days. At each time interval, these samples were subjected to three-point bend tests in temperature mode using a Perkin Elmer DMA7 Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (Perkin Elmer Corp., Waltham, MA, USA) to measure the storage modulus and damping ratio. The immersion time had significant influence on the viscoelastic property of composites and it was found that generally for all samples the storage modulus was reduced, whereas damping values increased with immersion time. The viscoelastic behavior of tested materials seems to be related to the pH environment, hydrophilicity and the chemical composition of composites.