Microhardness of photopolymerized composite resin: can the color of the experimental matrix change the results of the tests?

Abstract

The polymerizing degree of composite resins, mainly evaluated through their microhardness, has been studied in relation to many factors. Some in vitro researches use matrices as basis for manufacturing test specimens instead of, natural teeth. For photopolymerized resins, the light intensity that reaches the material directly influences its polymerization degree. The color, as well as the transparency of the resins, should not induce differences on the final microhardness results. With this awareness in mind, this work had the aim of evaluating the effect of two polypropylene resins used in tests of composite resins. One of them was white and the other was black. The resin was applied and polymerized in a single portion of 3 mm, and in 3 increments of 1 mm each, and the hardness index was measured at 3 mm of depth. After analyzing the results, a great difference was noticed between both colors, being the microhardness smaller in the black one. The single portion polymerization and applying techniques resulted in a smaller polymerization degree for both matrices (p < 0.01). We could notice that, when using black matrices for manufacturing test specimens of photopolymerized composite resin, the values obtained, mainly in relation to the depth of polymerization, showed the smallest possible degree of polymerization, and they also showed that it depends only on the resin properties.