Water sorption and solubility of hybrid and microfine resins-composite filling materials

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of water sorption and solubility of two types of light cured restorative materials (hybrid and microfine composites). Six composite materials were selected - Silux Plux (SLX), Clear Fil Photopost (CRF), Durafil (DUF), Helio Progress (HLO), P10 (P10) and Ful-Fil (FUL). The experimental methods were based closely on the procedure recommended in the ISO 4049 (1988) standard for resin-bonded filling materials, taking into account recent revisions proposed by the relevant working group. The highest mean water sorption was exhibited by SLX (32.86 g/mm3). This was significantly higher than the rest of the materials. It was also shown that CRF had the lowest mean value (8.42 g/mm3). For water solubility, the results showed that the mean value for DUF (5.76 g/mm3) was significantly higher than the rest of the materials, while CRF (0.40), HLO (0.82), FUL (0.88) and P10 (1.18) were not significantly different from one other, except P10 (1.18) which was significantly higher than CRF (0.40). All the materials passed the standard specification of ISO 4049: 1988. In general, the sorption of microfine composites (eg. SLX, HLO and DUF) was significantly greater than that of hybrid composites (FUL, P10 and CRF). The solubility of microfines was also greater than that of the hybrid composites