The purpose of this study was to determine whether pH and time has any influence on the degradation behavior of composite restoration by analyzing the leached monomers of dental composites qualitatively and quantitatively after storage in acetate buffer solution as a function of time using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) / mass spectrometer.

Three commercial composite restorative resin materials (Z-250, Heliomolar and Aeliteflo) with different matrix structure and filler composition were studied. Thirty specimens (7mm diameter×2mm thick) of each material were prepared. The cured materials were stored in acetate buffer solution at different pH (4, 7) for 1, 7 and 45days. As a reference, samples of unpolymerized composite materials of each product were treated with methanol (10 mg/ml). Identification of the various compounds was achieved by comparison of their mass spectra with those of reference compound, with literature data, and by their fragmentation patterns. Data were analysed statistically using ANOVA and Duncan's test.

1. Amounts of leached TEGDMA in Aeliteflo were significantly larger than those of UDMA in Z-250 and Heliomolar at experimental conditions of different storage time and pH variation (p < 0.001).

2. As to comparison of the amounts of leached monomers per sorage time, amounts of leached TEGDMA in Aeliteflo and UDMA in Z-250 and Heliomolar were increased in the pH 4 solution more significantly than in the pH 7 solution after 1day, 7days and 45days, respectively (p < 0.001).

3. In total amounts of all the leached monomers with storage times, the overall amounts of pH 4 extracts were larger than those of pH 7 extracts for all resin groups, but there was no significant difference (p > 0.05).