The influence of silane coupling agent on hydrolytic durability of silica-contained composite resin determined by flexural properties

Abstract

Using silanated filler in making dental resin composite results in the superior performance in both mechanical properties and durability of composite. The objectives of this study were to elucidate the effect of amount of silane coupling agent, gamma methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, the heat used in silanation process and pH of silanating solution on flexural properties and hydrolytic durability of composite. Flexural properties were obtained from specimens' preparation following ISO 4049:2000 and hydrolytic durability was obtained from subjecting the specimens in Soxhlet's extractor. An organic elemental analysis, a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a thermogravimetric analysis and a differential scanning colorimeter accompanied with a scanning electron microscope were utilized as the analyzing tools to understand the characteristics of the silane coupling agent on silica surface. Flexural properties of composite were fairly affected by the amount of silane providing that certain amount existed on the filler surface. Mean while, the flexural properties and hydrolytic durability were significantly depended upon the temperature used indrying the filler. Unlike, the heating effect, pH also showed the same trend as the effect of amount. The results were drawn from statistic analysis at p<0.05. It was concluded that silanation of filler is a prerequisite for superior performance of composite with hydrolytic stability. The amount of silane coupling agent covering filler and pH of silanating solution are not strongly affected the flexural properties and hydrolytic durability. The application of heating less than 80 ํC in drying filler for 3 hours resulted in better flexural properties and more hydrolytic durable composite.