Effect of Nanoparticles on Physico-Mechanical Properties of Flowable Dental Composite Resins

The flow able dental composite resins were introduced to the dental specialty because of the advantages they possess over the conventional composite resins. The use of nanotechnology in the dentistry field is one of the growing innovation in recent years. In this work, TiO2 nanoparticles at 1% (NC1), 2% (NC2) and 3% (NC3) (w/w) concentrations were added to Tetric N Flow composite, while the unmodified composite was used as control. The developed composite was studies for functional and structural properties using FTIR and XRD, which indicated no change in the functional and structural characteristics thereby improving the mechanical properties. Round specimens were made from experimental and control composite groups for surface roughness and hardness testing; rectangular specimens were made for flexural strength testing. The surface roughness test results showed NC3 group with highest value (0.163 +/- 0.017) and the control group had lowest value (0.151 +/- 0.021). Significant difference was observed in roughness values between all the groups (P <= 0.05). The micro-hardness test results showed that NC1 had the highest value (72.5 +/- 2.6) and lowest values was observed with NC3 (54.17 +/- 1.9). Significant difference was observed in micro-hardness values between the groups except between control and NC2 group (P = 1.00). The flexural strength test results demonstrated that NC1 had the highest value (95.33 +/- 1.86) and the lowest value was seen with NC3 group (85.17 +/- 1.37). No significant differences was observed in flexural strength between control group and NC2 group (P = 0.25); NC 2 and NC3 (P = 0.073).