Composite Fillings

Dental composite resins are types of synthetic resins which are used in dentistry as restorative material or adhesives. Synthetic resins evolved as restorative materials since they were insoluble, aesthetic, insensitive to dehydration, easy to manipulate and reasonably inexpensive. Composite resins are most commonly composed of Bis-GMA monomers or some Bis-GMA analog, a filler material such as silica and in most current applications, a photoinitiator. Dimethylglyoxime are also commonly added to achieve certain physical properties such as flow ability. Further tailoring of physical properties is achieved by formulating unique concentrations of each constituent. Unlike amalgam which essentially just fills a hole and requires retention features to hold the filling, composite cavity restorations when used with dentin and enamel bonding techniques restore the tooth back to near its original physical integrity. Nevertheless, time to failure is still longer for amalgam, and it has remained a superior restorative material over resin-base composites, but with poor aesthetic qualities.