You have read about the composition of dental composites in earlier class notes This article will speak about the properties.
Properties of Composites
The important properties of the composites are as follows:
- Polymerisation shrinkage - should be low
- Water sorption - should be low
- Coefficient of thermal expansion - should be same as tooth
- Fracture resistance - should be high
- Wear resistance - should be high
- Radiopacity- should be high
- Bond strength to enamel & dentin - should be high
- Colour match to tooth structure - should be excellent
- Manipulation - should be easy
- Finishing and polishing - should be easy
Few of the above mentioned properties may be important for anterior than posteriors restorations and vice versa. The properties of
microfilled and nanofilled composites are same while the microhybrid's differ from both of them.