Influence of an Alkoxylation Grade of Acrylates on Shrinkage of UV-Curable Compositions

Commercially available UV curable restorative materials are composed of inorganic filler hydroxyapatite, multifunctional methacrylate, photoinitiator and alkoxylated acrylate. Especially, the application of alkoxylated monomers with different alkoxylation grade allows the reduction of polymerization shrinkage which plays the major role by application of low shrinkage composites as high quality restorative dental materials or other adhesive materials in the form of UV-polymerized self-adhesive acrylics layers (films). There are several ways to reduce polymerization shrinkage of restorative compositions, for example, by adjusting different alkoxylated acrylic monomers, which are integral part of investigated UV curable restorative composites. This article is focused on the studies of contraction-stress measured as shrinkage during UV-initiated curing of restorative composites containing various commercially available alkoxylated acrylates. Moreover, studies with experimental restorative materials and recent developments typical for UV curing technology using special photoreactive monomers are described.