Release of fluoride from glass fiber-reinforced composite with multiphase polymer matrix.

This study investigated the suitability of a fluoride containing monomer resin system for use as a copolymer of dental fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) materials. The purpose of the study was to measure the release of fluoride from the test materials. The monomer resin system was either light-polymerized, or light-polymerized and post-cured with heat at 130 degrees C. The release of fluoride from FRC test specimens during 30 day storage periods was compared to the release of fluoride from unreinforced test specimens (n = 5). The fluoride release into distilled water was determined with an ionanalyzator. During the first week of water storage, the fluoride release was 0.31 wt % for the unreinforced specimens and 0.13 wt % for reinforced specimens. The post-curing had no influence on the fluoride release values. The results of this study suggest that fiber inclusion reduces fluoride release of reinforced specimens compared to unreinforced specimens because the amount of polymer was smaller in reinforced specimens. The results of this study showed that the fluoride containing monomer system could be incorporated into the polymer matrix of fiber-reinforced composites. Copyright 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers