Nanoindentation and Raman spectroscopy measurements on dual-cure luting cement for dental conservative restoration

The employment of innovative all-ceramic materi-als and adhesive cement, as well as the development of new bonding procedures, allow clinicians to use minimally invasive approaches in conservative restorations. In particular, dual-cure cement allows for obtaining higher aesthetic and functional results. However, the reduced light transmission through ceramic materials could prevent the proper curing and affect the adhesion of these materials to the tooth surface. In this context, the development of an accurate measurement methodology to assess the extent of polymerization of dental resin-based luting cement and to correlate the conversion degree with the mechanical properties is of particular importance from the clinical and scientific point of view. A measurement approach that exploits Raman Spectroscopy and nano-hardness measurements is hereby proposed. In particular, in this study, two different light-curing protocols are employed on a dual-cure luting cement, usually used for the full-crown restoration of single-rooted teeth. The effect of different times and tack-curing steps on the polymerization shrinkage of resin-based luting cement is investigated. The pre-liminary results allow concluding that both curing protocols lead to a good polymerization, without significant differences in the degree of conversion along the cement-tooth interfacial surface, as proved by the almost constant ratio of the Raman vibration characteristic peaks. However, the nanoindentation modulus was lower in the case of the tack-cured protocol.