New developments of polymeric dental composites

The currently used commercial restorative composites contain a mixture of v arious cross-linking dimethacrylates, glass- and/or silicon dioxide fillers , and a photoinitiator system. They are cured by irradiation with visible l ight. New developments of polymeric composites for restorative filling mate rials are mainly focused on the reduction of polymerization shrinkage, and improvement of biocompatibility, wear resistance and processing properties. This can be partially achieved by using new tailor-made monomers and optim ized filler particles. This review describes the polymeric chemical aspects of the application of new monomers, e.g. cyclic monomers, liquid-crystalline monomers, ormocers, branched monomers, compomers or Bis-GMA analogues or substitutes for restor ative composites. In addition, the contribution of new filler-technologies for the improvement of restorative composites is discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.