The purpose of this study was to measure the power density of light curing units transmitted through resin inlays fabricated with direct composite (Filtek Z350, Filtek Supreme XT) and indirect composite (Sinfony).

A3 shade of Z350, A3B and A3E shades of Supreme XT, and A3, E3, and T1 shades of Sinfony were used to fabricate the resin inlays in 1.5 mm thickness. The power density of a halogen light curing unit (Optilux 360) and an LED light curing unit (Elipar S10) through the fabricated resin inlays was measured with a hand held dental radiometer (Cure Rite). To investigate the effect of each composite layer consisting the resin inlays on light transmission, resin specimens of each shade were fabricated in 0.5 mm thickness and power density was measured through the resin specimens.

The power density through the resin inlays was lowest with the Z350 A3, followed by Supreme XT A3B and A3E. The power density was highest with Sinfony A3, E3, and T1 (p < 0.05). The power density through 0.5 mm thick resin specimens was lowest with dentin shades, Sinfony A3, Z350 A3, Supreme XT A3B, followed by enamel shades, Supreme XT A3E and Sinfony E3. The power density was highest with translucent shade, Sinfony T1 (p < 0.05).

Using indirect lab composites with dentin, enamel, and translucent shades rather than direct composites with one or two shades could be advantageous in transmitting curing lights through resin inlays.

The purpose of this study was to observe the reaction kinetics and the degree of polymerization of composite resins when cured by different light sources and to evaluate the effectiveness of the blue Light Emitting Diode Light Curing Units (LED LCUs) compared with conventional halogen LCUs.

First, thermal analysis was performed by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The LED LCU (Elipar Freelight, 320 mW/cm²) and the conventional halogen LCU (XL3000, 400 mW/cm²) were used in this study for curing three composite resins (SureFil, Z-250 and AEliteFLO). Second, the degree of conversion was obtained in the composite resins cured according to the above curing mode with a FTIR. Third, the measurements of depth of cure were carried out in accordance with ISO 4049 standards. Statistical analysis was performed by two-way ANOVA test at 95% levels of confidence and Duncan's procedure for multiple comparisons.

The heat of cure was not statistically different among the LCUs (p > 0.05). The composites cured by the LED (Exp) LCUs were statistically more slowly polymerized than by the halogen LCU and the LED (Std) LCU (p < 0.05). The composite resin groups cured by the LED (Exp) LCUs had significantly greater degree of conversion value than by the halogen LCU and the LED (Std) LCU (p = 0.0002). The composite resin groups cured by the LED (Std) LCUs showed significantly greater depth of cure value than by the halogen LCU and the LED (Exp) LCU (p < 0.05).