title: The effect of silica nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced composite resins.
abstract: Background. Nanotechnology has introduced many nanoparticles in recent years, which can be incorporated for mechanical improvement of dental materials. However, the existing data are widely sparse. This study investigated the reinforcing effect of silica nanoparticles when incorporated into the matrix phase of an experimental dental fiber-reinforced compositeresin (FRC) through evaluation of its flexural properties. Methods. In this experimental study FRC samples were divided into two main groups (containing two or three bundles),either of whic consisted of five subgroups with 0, 0.2, 0.5, 2 and 5 wt% of silica nanoparticles in the matrix resin (n=10 in each subgroup); a commercial FRC (Angelus, Brazil) was used as the control group (n=10). Three-point bending test was performed to evaluate the flexural strength and modulus. Thereafter, the microstructure of the fractured samples was evalu-ated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and HSD Tukey tests (α = 0.05). Results. The results revealed that the silica nanoparticles had a significant and positive effect on the flexural strength and modulus of FRCs (P<0.05), with no significant differences from 0.2 to 5 wt% of nanoparticles (P > 0.05) in either group with two or three bundles of fibers. Conclusion. Incorporating silica nanoparticles into the FRC resin phase resulted in improved flexural strength and modulus of the final product.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Operative Dentistry, Shahed Dental School, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran; Dental Research Center, Shahed Dental School, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Bagher
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Rezvani
authors.affiliation: Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute (IPPI), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Atai
authors.affiliation: Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute (IPPI), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Faeze
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hamze
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Operative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Reihane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hajrezai
keywords: Fiber-reinforced composite resins; flexural strength; nanoparticles; silicon dioxide