Effect of mold type, diameter, and uncured composite removal method on depth of cure

Objective This study compared the effects of mold material and diameter on the thickness of cured composite remnants and depth of cure (DOC) of resin-based composites (RBC). Material and methods One Polywave® curing light was used to photo-cure two shades of the same “bulk-fill” RBC in 4, 6, or 10-mm internal diameter metal or white Delrin® molds. For 60 specimens, the uncured RBC was manually scraped away as described in the ISO 4049 depth of cure test. The remaining 60 specimens were immersed in tetrahydrofuran for 48 hours in the dark. Maximum lengths of remaining hard RBC and their DOC values were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey–Kramer post hoc multiple comparison tests (α = 0.05). Results Specimen thickness and DOC were always greater using the white Delrin® molds compared to metal molds ( p