title: Factors involved in mechanical fatigue degradation of dental resin composites.
abstract: The design of clinical trials allows for limited insights into the fatigue processes occurring in resin composites and the factors involved therein. In vitro studies, in contrast, can fundamentally narrow study interests to focus on particular degradation mechanisms and, to date, represent the major contributors to the state of knowledge on the subject. These studies show that microstructural features are important in determining strength and fracture toughness, whereas fatigue resistance is mainly related to the susceptibility of the matrix and the filler/matrix interface to mechanical and chemical degradation. In this review, we focus on fracture mechanisms occurring during fatigue, on the methods used to assess them, and on additional phenomena involved in the degradation of initial mechanical properties of resin composites.
authors.affiliation: Dental Clinic 1-Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. lohbauer@dent.uni-erlangen.de
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lohbauer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belli
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ferracane
mesh_terms: D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D003188:Composite Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D003188:Composite Resins; D003764:Dental Materials
keywords: composite resins; crack propagation; cyclic loading; fracture toughness; hydrolysis; viscoelasticity