Photoacoustic analysis of dental resin polymerization

Abstract
In this work, we use the photoacoustic technique to monitor the curing process of diverse dental materials, as the resins chemically activated (RCA). The results obtained reveal that the composition of a determined RCA significantly alters its activation kinetics. Photoacoustic data also show that temperature is a significant parameter in the activation kinetics of resins. The photoacoustic technique was also applied to evaluate the polymerization kinetics of photoactivated resins. Such resins are photoactivated by incidence of continuous light from a photodiode. This leads to the polymerization of the resin, modifying its thermal properties and, consequently, the level of the photoacoustic signal. Measurements show that the polymerization of the resin changes the photoacoustic signal amplitude, indicating that photoacoustic measurements can be utilized to monitor the polymerization kinetic and the degree of polymerization of photoactivated dental resins.