Effects of light curing modes and ethanol-wet bonding on dentin bonding properties

Objective： This study explored the effects of different light curing modes and ethanol-wet bonding on dentin bonding strength and durability. Methods： A total of 54 molars were randomly divided into three groups： Single Bond 2, Gluma Comfort Bond, and N-Bond. Based on the three light-curing modes and presence or absence of eth- anol pretreatment, the samples were assigned to six subgroups： high-light mode, ethanol pretreatment＋high-light mode, soft-start mode, ethanol pretreatment＋soft-start mode, standard mode, and ethanol pretreatment＋standard mode. All samples were bonded with resin based on the experimental groups. After 24 h and 6 months of water storage, a universal testing machine was used to measure microtensile bond strength. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was applied to observe mixed layer morphology. Results： The 24-h and 6-month microtensile bond strengths of the ethanol pretreatment groups were significantly higher than those of the non-ethanol pretreatment groups at the same light modes （P〈0.05）. With or without ethanol pretreatment, the microtensile bond strengths of the high-light modes were significantly lower than those of the soft-start modes and standard modes （P〈0.05）. The microtensile bond strengths of samples from the 6-month water storage group significantly decreased compared with those of samples from the 24-h water storage group （P〈0.05）. The soft-start groups and standard groups formed better mixed layers than the high-light mode groups, whereas the ethanol pretreatment groups formed more uniform mixed layers than those without ethanol pretreatment. Conclusions： Ethanol-wet bonding technique, soft-start, and standard modes could improve dentin bonding properties.

Silicone Elastomer with High Elongation at Break Used in Digital Light Processing 3D Printing

3D printing silicone elastomer has demonstrated great potential in diverse areas such as medical devices,flexible electronics and soft robotics.It is of great value to investigate how to improve the mechanical properties,including tensile strength and elongation at break of printed parts.In this work,a light curing system that can be applied in silicone elastomer 3D printing is explored,which is composed of vinyl terminated polysiloxane as the macromer and thiol containing polysiloxane as the crosslinking agent,and a chain extension reaction is also introduced into this light curing system via the addition of the chain extender dithiol molecules,and a light curing system accompanied with chain extension is designed and realized based on the thiol-ene click reaction mechanism.After reinforced with silica fillers,the obtained light curing system can endow the light curing silicone elastomer with better mechanical properties under the condition of a lower viscosity of the precursor,the tensile strength and elongation at break can reach 525.5 k Pa and 601%,respectively.This light curing system provides a feasible method to solve the contradiction between the viscosity of the precursor and the mechanical properties of the light curing elastomer in the digital light processing(DLP)3D printing field.