Abstract
Finely powdered enamel was used to develop a prosthetic resin composite that has good mechanical properties and no potential to abrade opposing tooth structure. Bovine teeth were ground into powder and then the enamel particles were separated from the powder by centrifugation in bromoform–ethanol solution. The resin matrix consisted of UDMA (60 mole %) and Tri-EDMA (40 mole %). Camphorquinone (0.5 mass %) was added to the monomer as a photo-initiator. Fillers were incorporated directly into the resin matrix in amounts of 80 or 85 mass %. The flexural strength and Vickers hardness (Hv) were measured. The average flexural strength and Hv values for specimens having 85 mass % filler that had been subjected to heat treatment at 100°C after light-curing were 95.2 and 109.8 MPa, respectively, which are higher than those for most commercial prosthetic resin composites. These findings suggest that a novel prosthetic resin composite with good mechanical properties can be made by loading finely powdered enamel into the resin matrix.