SUMMARY
Objective
The objective of this study was to investigate, by simulation, the effect of conventional composite resin insertion techniques on cuspal deflection using bonded typodont artificial teeth. The deflection produced by a new low-shrinkage composite was also determined.
Materials and Methods
Sixty standardized MOD preparations on ivorine maxillary premolars were prepared: group A at 4 mm depth and group B at 6 mm depth. Each group was further subdivided according to composite insertion technique (n=6), as follows: 1) bulk insertion, 2) horizontal increments, 3) tangential increments, and 4) a modified tangential technique. Preparations were microetched, acid-cleaned, and bonded with adhesive resin to provide micromechanical attachment before restoration with a conventional composite (Spectrum TPH3, Dentsply). Two additional subgroups at 4 mm and 6 mm depth (n=6) were restored in bulk using low-shrinkage composite (Filtek LS, 3M/ESPE). All groups received the same total photo-polymerization time. Cuspal deflection was measured during the restorative procedure using two Linear Variable Differential Transformers attached to a data acquisition system.
Results
The average cuspal deflections for group A were 1) 40.17 ± 1.18 μm, 2) 25.80 ± 4.98 μm, 3) 28.27 ± 5.12 μm, and 4) 27.33 ± 2.42 μm. The deflections in group B were 1) 38.82 ± 3.64 μm, 2) 50.39 ± 9.17 μm, 3) 55.62 ± 8.16 μm, and 4) 49.61 ± 8.01 μm. Cuspal flexure for the low-shrinkage composite was 11.14 ± 1.67 μm (group A: 4 mm depth) and 16.53 ± 2.79 μm (group B: 6 mm depth).
Conclusions
All insertion techniques using conventional composite caused cuspal deformation. In general, deeper preparations showed increased cuspal deflection—except in the case of bulk insertion, which was likely affected by decreased depth of cure. Cuspal movement using low-shrinkage composite was significantly reduced.
Low-temperature plasma nitrocarburizing treatments are applied to improve the surface properties of austenitic stainless steels by forming an expanded austenite layer without impairing the excellent corrosion resistance of the steel. Here, low-temperature active screen plasma nitrocarburizing (ASPNC) was investigated in an industrial-scale cold-wall reactor to compare the effects of two active screen materials: (i) a steel active screen with the addition of methane as a gaseous carbon-containing precursor and (ii) an active screen made of carbon-fibre-reinforced carbon (CFC) as a solid carbon precursor. By using both active screen materials, ASPNC treatments at variable plasma conditions were conducted using AISI 316L. Moreover, insight into the plasma-chemical composition of the H2-N2 plasma for both active screen materials was gained by laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) combined with optical emission spectroscopy (OES). It was found that, in the case of a CFC active screen in a biased condition, the thickness of the nitrogen-expanded austenite layer increased, while the thickness of the carbon-expanded austenite layer decreased compared to the non-biased condition, in which the nitrogen- and carbon-expanded austenite layers had comparable thicknesses. Furthermore, the crucial role of biasing the workload to produce a thick and homogeneous expanded austenite layer by using a steel active screen was validated.
The work is devoted to the development of laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) of plasma-assisted processes for application under industrial conditions. The interpretation of the LAS measurements was revised by taking into consideration the temperature gradient along the absorption path, which is unavoidable in a reactor for thermochemical treatment. The revision is based on the measurement of HCN, NH3, H2O and CO molecular lines in an industrial-scale, active screen plasma nitrocarburizing (ASPNC) reactor with a steel active screen (AS). It shows that an effective temperature determined from Doppler broadening could be assigned to each measured spectral line. The effective temperature does not only reflect the temperature gradients along the line-of-sight but also the line strength dependence on temperature for the specific spectroscopic transition. Lower limit estimates of the molecular densities are proposed based on the determined effective temperatures under the assumption of a Boltzmann distribution of the population density over the molecular levels at any local volume of the reactor. For a more accurate interpretation of LAS data of plasma-assisted processes, the spatial distribution of the temperature along line-of-sight has to be known and needs to be taken into account to obtain the molecular densities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.