Ester-free thiol-ene dental restoratives--Part A: Resin development.

OBJECTIVES: To detail the development of ester-free thiol-ene dental resins with enhanced mechanical performance, limited potential for water uptake/leachables/degradation and low polymerization shrinkage stress. METHODS: Thiol-terminated oligomers were prepared via a thiol-Michael reaction and a bulky tetra-allyl monomer containing urethane linkages was synthesized. The experimental oligomers and/or monomers were photopolymerized using visible light activation. Several thiol-ene formulations were investigated and their performance ranked by comparisons of the thermo-mechanical properties, polymerization shrinkage stress, water sorption/solubility, and reactivity with respect to a control comprising a conventional BisGMA/TEGDMA dental resin. RESULTS: The ester-free thiol-ene formulations had significantly lower viscosities, water sorption and solubility than the BisGMA/TEGDMA control. Depending on the resin, the limiting functional conversions were equivalent to or greater than that of BisGMA/TEGDMA. At comparable conversions, lower shrinkage stress values were achieved by the thiol-ene systems. The polymerization shrinkage stress was dramatically reduced when the tetra-allyl monomer was used as the ene in ester-free thiol-ene mixtures. Although exhibiting lower Young's modulus, flexural strength, and glass transition temperatures, the toughness values associated with thiol-ene resins were greater than that of the BisGMA/TEGDMA control. In addition, the thiol-ene polymerization resulted in highly uniform polymer networks as indicated by the narrow tan delta peak widths. SIGNIFICANCE: Employing the developed thiol-ene resins in dental composites will reduce shrinkage stress and moisture absorption and form tougher materials. Furthermore, their low viscosities are expected to enable higher loadings of functionalized micro/nano-scale filler particles relevant for practical dental systems.