EFFECTS OF SECONDARY CURING ON INDIRECT POSTERIOR COMPOSITE RESINS

This study was designed to compare strength, elastic modulus (stiffnes s), and hardness for five composite resin materials that are used for laboratory-fabricated posterior composite restorations. Ten specimens of each material were processed according to the manufacturer's instru ctions. Statistical analysis indicated that there were significant dif ferences in mechanical properties among the materials tested. In addit ion, materials that are incrementally light cured prior to secondary p rocessing were tested for changes in mechanical properties following s econdary processing. It was determined that secondary processing provi ded improvement in flexural strength (11%) when compared to samples th at were only light cured.