Studies on new organically modified ceramics based dental restorative resins

Novel difunctional and tetra functional organically modified ceramics with methacrylate functional groups were developed from liquid precursors using the sol–gel process. These novel inorganic–organic hybrid materials were characterized using various techniques and used for the preparation of visible light cure dental restoratives, which have good mechanical properties and excellent surface hardness. Effect of cure time on vickers hardness of cured composite was measured, and compared with that of the bisphenol A glycidyl methacrylate (Bis GMA) based composite. Statistical evaluation using analysis of variance (single factor) showed a significant (P < 0.05) difference in diametral tensile strength and hardness with variation in inorganic content. Also a significantly improved hardness was obtained for the new organically modified ceramic composite compared with BisGMA based composite at all exposure time. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010