Water sorption and diffusion coefficient through an experimental dental resin.

Polymeric composites have been widely used as dental restorative materials. A fundamental knowledge and understanding of the behavior of these materials in the oral cavity is essential to improve their properties and performance. In this paper we computed the data set of water absorption through an experimental dental resin blend using specimen discs of different thicknesses to estimate the diffusion coefficient. The resins were produced using Bisphenol A glycol dimethacrylate, Bisphenol A ethoxylated dimethacrylate and Triethylene glycol dimethacrylate monomers. The water sorption test method was based on International Standard ISO 4049 "Dentistry-Polymer-based filling materials". Results show a diffusion coefficient around 6.38 x 10(-8) cm(2)/s, within a variance of 0.01%, which is in good agreement with the values reported in the literature and represents a very suitable value.