Curing of dental composites by use of InGaN light-emitting diodes

A potential application of blue-light-emitting InGaN LED's as a polymerizin g source for dental composite materials is described. We compared a basic L ED device with a conventional curing light in vitro to determine the polyme rization parameters and to examine the effect of the curing process on the physical properties of these materials. It was determined that an array of six LED's was able to set a range of composite materials more quickly than a conventional light source, with the cured compounds showing similar hardn ess and material shrinkage parameters but with a lower material temperature rise during the curing process using the array. These findings indicate th at a device consisting of several InGaN LED's would be an effective instrum ent for curing certain light-sensitive materials, particularly dental compo sites. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.