High Modulus Dental Nanocomposites

When materials scientists in dentistry turn to use nanofiller in composites because of their superb properties, rather than microfiller in dental restorations, they are also facing a series of new challenges. This book reviews dental materials that are currently used in the industry. It presents the methods of fabricating a type of novel high elastic modulus dental resin nanocomposites, and investigates their mechanical properties including the visco-elastic properties associated with filler loading and coupling agents by nanoindentation. Key features include: Proposes a type of novel resin composites in the applications of dental laminate structures; Details on how to fabricate this dental nanocomposites, how to measure their mechanical properties by nanoindentation, and how to predict the elastic modulus using several models; Discussion of visco-elastic properties of resin nanocomposites and analysis of their behaviors using a new VEP model. The properties of dental resin nanocomposites and the modeling/testing methodology presented in this book are not only applicable to dental composites, but also to general particulate-filled polymer composites as well.