When a patient with a fractured anterior tooth visits the clinic, clinician has to restore the tooth esthetically and quickly. For esthetic resin restoration, clinician can use 'Natural Layering technique' and an index for palatal wall may be needed. In this case report, we introduce pre-restoration index technique on a Class IV defect, in which a temporary filling material is used for easy restoration. Chair-side index fabrication for Class IV restoration is convenient and makes a single-visit treatment possible.

Maxillary canines have less anatomical diversities than other teeth. They usually have a single root and root canal. This report describes an endodontic treatment of a maxillary canine with two separated root canals which have not been reported through the demonstration of radiography and computerized tomography (CT).

Even though appropriated endodontic treatment has been performed, the severe pain could happen due to lack of consideration of anatomical variations of the teeth. Therefore, the clinicians should be well aware of the possibility of anatomical variations in the root canal system during endodontic treatment even if the number of root canals is obvious such as in this case.

Since the introduction of restorative dental composites, their physical properties have been significantly improved. However, polymerization shrinkage is still a major drawback. Many efforts have been made to develop a low shrinking composite, and silorane-based composites have recently been introduced into the market. In addition, many different methods have been developed to measure the polymerization shrinkage.

In this study, we developed a new method to measure the linear polymerization shrinkage of composites without direct contact to a specimen using a particle tracking method with computer vision. The shrinkage kinetics of a commercial silorane-based composite (P90) and two conventional methacrylate-based composites (Z250 and Z350) were investigated and compared. The results were as follows:

The linear shrinkage of composites was 0.33-1.41%. Shrinkage was lowest for the silorane-based (P90) composite, and highest for the flowable Z350 composite.

The aim of this study was to measure the dentinal tubular fluid flow (DFF) during and after amalgam and composite restorations. A newly designed fluid flow measurement instrument was made. A third molar cut at 3 mm apical from the CEJ was connected to the flow measuring device under a hydrostatic pressure of 15 cmH₂O. Class I cavity was prepared and restored with either amalgam (Copalite varnish and Bestaloy) or composite (Z-250 with ScotchBond MultiPurpose: MP, Single Bond 2: SB, Clearfil SE Bond: CE and Easy Bond: EB as bonding systems). The DFF was measured from the intact tooth state through restoration procedures to 30 minutes after restoration, and re-measured at 3 and 7days after restoration.

Inward fluid flow (IF) during cavity preparation was followed by outward flow (OF) after preparation. In amalgam restoration, the OF changed to IF during amalgam filling and slight OF followed after finishing.

In composite restoration, application CE and EB showed a continuous OF and air-dry increased rapidly the OF until light-curing, whereas in MP and SB, rinse and dry caused IF and OF, respectively. Application of hydrophobic bonding resin in MP and CE caused a decrease in flow rate or even slight IF. Light-curing of adhesive and composite showed an abrupt IF. There was no statistically significant difference in the reduction of DFF among the materials at 30 min, 3 and 7 days after restoration (P > 0.05).

The aim of this study was to develop a method for measuring the slumping resistance of flowable resin composites and to evaluate the efficacy using rheological methodology.

Five commercial flowable composites (Aelitefil flow:AF, Filtek flow:FF, DenFil flow:DF, Tetric flow:TF and Revolution:RV) were used. Same volume of composites in a syringe was extruded on a glass slide using a custom-made loading device. The resin composites were allowed to slump for 10 seconds at 25℃ and light cured. The aspect ratio (height/diameter) of cone or dome shaped specimen was measured for estimating the slumping tendency of composites. The complex viscosity of each composite was measured by a dynamic oscillatory shear test as a function of angular frequency using a rheometer. To compare the slumping tendency of composites, one way-ANOVA and Turkey's post hoc test was performed for the aspect ratio at 95% confidence level. Regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the complex viscosity and the aspect ratio. The results were as follows.

1. Slumping tendency based on the aspect ratio varied among the five materials (AF < FF < DF < TF < RV).

2. Flowable composites exhibited pseudoplasticity in which the complex viscosity decreased with increasing frequency (shear rate). AF was the most significant, RV the least.

3. The slumping tendency was strongly related with the complex viscosity. Slumping resistance increased with increasing the complex viscosity.

The slumping tendency could be quantified by measuring the aspect ratio of slumped flowable composites. This method may be applicable to evaluate the clinical handling characteristics of flowable composites.

This study was aimed to investigate whether an oxygen inhibition layer (OIL) is essential for the interfacial bonding between resin composite layers or not.

A composite (Z-250, 3M ESPE) was filled in two layers using two aluminum plate molds with a hole of 3.7 mm diameter. The surface of first layer of cured composite was prepared by one of five methods as followings, thereafter second layer of composite was filled and cured: Group 1 - OIL is allowed to remain on the surface of cured composite; Group 2 - OIL was removed by rubbing with acetone-soaked cotton; Group 3 - formation of the OIL was inhibited using a Mylar strip; Group 4 - OIL was covered with glycerin and light-cured; Group 5 (control) - composite was bulk-filled in a layer. The interfacial shear bond strength between two layers was tested and the fracture modes were observed. To investigate the propagation of polymerization reaction from active area having a photo-initiator to inactive area without the initiator, a flowable composite (Aelite Flow) or an adhesive resin (Adhesive of ScotchBond Multipurpose) was placed over an experimental composite (Exp_Com) which does not include a photoinitiator and light-cured. After sectioning the specimen, the cured thickness of the Exp_Com was measured.

The bond strength of group 2, 3 and 4 did not show statistically significant difference with group 1. Groups 3 and 4 were not statistically significant different with control group 5. The cured thicknesses of Exp_Com under the flowable resin and adhesive resin were 20.95 (0.90) um and 42.13 (2.09), respectively.

The objective of this study was to compare dentin shear bond strength (DSBS) of dentin bonding agents (DBAs) cured with a plasma arc (PAC) light curing unit (LCU) and those cured with a light emitting diode (LED) LCU. Optical properties were also analyzed for Elipar freelight 2 (3M ESPE); LED LCU, Apollo 95E (DMT Systems); PAC LCU and VIP Junior (Bisco); Halogen LCU. The DBAs used for DSBS test were Scotchbond Multipurpose (3M ESPE), Singlebond 2 (3M ESPE) and Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray). After DSBS testing, fractured specimens were analyzed for failure modes with SEM.

The total irradiance and irradiance between 450 nm and 490 nm of the LCUs were different. LED LCU showed narrow spectral distribution around its peak at 462 nm whereas PAC and Halogen LCU showed a broad spectrum. There were no significant differences in mean shear bond strength among different LCUs (P > 0.05) but were significant differences among different DBAs (P < 0.001)

This study was aimed to develop an instrument for real-time measurement of fluid conductance and to investigate the hydrodynamics of dentinal fluid. The instrument consisted of three parts; (1) a glass capillary and a photo sensor for detection of fluid movement, (2) a servo-motor, a lead screw and a ball nut for tracking of fluid movement, (3) a rotary encoder and software for data processing.

To observe the blocking effect of dentinal fluid movement, oxalate gel and self-etch adhesive agent were used. BisBlock (Bisco) and Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray) were applied to the occlusal dentin surface of extracted human teeth. Using this new device, the fluid movement was measured and compared between before and after each agent was applied.

The instrument was able to measure dentinal fluid movement with a high resolution (0.196 nL) and the flow occurred with a rate of 0.84 to 15.2 nL/s before treatment. After BisBlock or Clearfil SE Bond was used, the fluid movement was decreased by 39.8 to 89.6%.

This study compared the dentin shear bond strengths of currently used dentin bonding agents that were irradiated with an LED (Elipar FreeLight, 3M-ESPE) and a halogen light (VIP, BISCO). The optical characteristics of two light curing units were evaluated. Extracted human third molars were prepared to expose the occlusal dentin and the bonding procedures were performed under the irradiation with each light curing unit. The dentin bonding agents used in this study were Scotchbond Multipurpose (3M ESPE), Single Bond (3M ESPE), One-Step (Bisco), Clearfil SE bond (Kuraray), and Adper Prompt (3M ESPE). The shear test was performed by employing the design of a chisel-on-iris supported with a Teflon wall. The fractured dentin surface was observed with SEM to determine the failure mode.

The spectral appearance of the LED light curing unit was different from that of the halogen light curing unit in terms of maximum peak and distribution. The LED LCU (maximum peak in 465 ㎚) shows a narrower spectral distribution than the halogen LCU (maximum peak in 487 ㎚). With the exception of the Clearfil SE bond (P < 0.05), each 4 dentin bonding agents showed no significant difference between the halogen light-cured group and the LED light-cured group in the mean shear bond strength (P > 0.05).

The results can be explained by the strong correlation between the absorption spectrum of cam-phoroquinone and the narrow emission spectrum of LED.