Effect of different artificial aging protocols on the roughness, hardness and weight loss of bulk-fill composites

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of different artificial aging on roughness, hardness and weight loss of "bulk-fill" composites, as well as the characterization on the surface after the aging procedures. Material and Methods: Sixty three cylindrical specimens of 6 mm in diameter and 1mm thickness will be made for each composite: Filtek " Z350 XT, GrandioSO, Admira Fusion x-tra ®, Filtek " Bulk Fill, Tetric N-Ceram Bulk Fill. Surface roughness, Knoop hardness and mass will be assesses using an atomic force microscopy model Agilent 5500, microhardness tester FM 700 and analytical digital scale, respectively. Subsequently, the samples will be randomly assigned in four groups and subjected to artificial aging: ET: thermal aging by thermocycling, 5000 cycles with temperatures of 5 and 55 ° C; EM: Mechanical aging by brushing, brushing with 40000 cycles; EQ: chemical aging by ethanol, with immersion in ethanol for seven days; EL: Aging by light with 300h radiation UV. Then, the final measurements of surface roughness, hardness and weight loss will be performed for each sample. Additionally, three samples from each group will be prepared for scanning electron microscope analysis. Data will be collected and subjected to statistical analysis. (AU)