Towards the Standardization of Artificial Aging Protocols for Dental Composites: Evaluation of Proposed Methods

This research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland [grant number: UMO-2020/37/N/ST5/00191, 2021].

Datasets was basis for publication entitled: Towards the Standardization of Artificial Aging Protocols for Dental Composites: Evaluation of Proposed Methods, publised at Journal of Functional Biomaterials in 2025 (Szczesio-Wlodarczyk A, Kopacz K, Ranoszek-Soliwoda K, Sokolowski J, Bociong K. Towards the Standardization of Artificial Aging Protocols for Dental Composites: Evaluation of Proposed Methods. Journal of Functional Biomaterials. 2025; 16(2):49. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb16020049). 

The publication is a summary of the third step of the project, that aims standardizing an artificial aging protocol for dental composites. Until now, there has been no effort to create a standard protocol for evaluating the clinical performance of dental composites in a practical and efficient manner. Dental materials are not required to undergo studies that verify their durability over their expected lifespan before they are released to the market. Implementing a standardized aging process is essential to enhance the dental resin composite's ability to withstand oral conditions. Research in this area has been supported by the Preludium grant from the National Science Center in Poland.

This study represents the final stage in which three selected aging protocols were evaluated based on previous research (1. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27113511; 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14166964). A 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution was used to accelerate degradation in resin-based composites. Twelve materials, categorized into five types, were assessed for flexural strength (FS), diametral tensile strength (DTS), hardness (HV), and fracture toughness (FT) before and after aging. The proposed methods significantly degraded the mechanical properties of most composites, demonstrating the effectiveness of 0.1 M NaOH in hydrolytic stability testing.

Materials with high filler content (~80 wt.%) were particularly susceptible to degradation, emphasizing the need for optimized filler-matrix integration. The results suggest that incorporating thermocycling in aging protocols can enhance the assessment of dental composites by revealing interfacial weaknesses. Furthermore, the study underscores the importance of standardized aging protocols for accurate in vitro evaluation. Given the limited foundational research on proprietary dental materials, further studies are necessary to comprehensively assess their long-term performance.

For details on how the results are provided, please refer to the README file.