Transparent Dental Material via Butadiene Oligomer Modifiers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current polymerizable dental materials for prostheses face issues such as high thermally induced volume shrinkage leading to inaccurate fittings and lack of transparency, with existing solutions either causing fractures or resulting in cloudy, non-transparent products.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating acrylated or methacrylated butadiene and acrylonitrile oligomers or polymers into methyl methacrylate-based systems, which increases transparency and fracture toughness while maintaining flexural strength and modulus, resulting in a transparent and durable dental material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If heat-curing plastics or microwave curing plastics are used to eliminate fractures, then fracture resistance is improved, but thermally induced volume shrinkage increases leading to inaccurate fittings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by introducing specific rubber modifiers (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer and/or carboxy-terminated butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer) with controlled particle sizes (0.1-10 μm) and concentrations (1-50 wt%), which modify the polymerization behavior to reduce thermal shrinkage while maintaining fracture resistance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite material system combining methyl methacrylate-based polymer matrix with dispersed rubber modifier particles, where the rubber phase acts as a shock-absorbing component that reduces brittleness without significantly affecting dimensional stability during curing
2Manufacturing precision
If butadiene-styrene rubber is added to solve shrinkage problems, then volume shrinkage is reduced, but transparency deteriorates resulting in cloudy appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality control by carefully selecting rubber particle sizes (0.1-10 μm) that are smaller than the wavelength of visible light, allowing the material to maintain transparency in the visible range while the rubber particles locally absorb shrinkage stresses
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the particle size parameter of the rubber modifier to be in the range of 0.1-10 μm, which is below the visible light wavelength threshold, thereby maintaining optical transparency while achieving shrinkage control
3Strength
If solid multilayer rubbers are used as impact modifiers, then fracture toughness is improved, but optical transparency is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from using solid multilayer rubber structures to liquid oligomer form, changing the dimensional state from solid to liquid, which allows the rubber modifier to be uniformly distributed at molecular level without forming light-scattering interfaces
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state parameter of the rubber modifier from solid to liquid oligomer form, enabling uniform distribution and compatibility with the polymer matrix while maintaining impact resistance properties
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves transparency greater than 70% with enhanced fracture resistance and impact strength without compromising flexural properties, making the material suitable for durable and accurate dental prostheses.
Implementation Method 1
Two-component powder-liquid systems usually consist mainly of methacrylates. The methacrylates are available as powders and as liquids. The polymer powder is nowadays mostly a bead polymer. It is mixed with liquid monomer
Data Source
AI summary
Polymerizable dental material (I) comprises a liquid component comprising (a) at least a liquid methyl methacrylate-monomer component and (b) at least an acrylated or methacrylated butadiene-oligomer or -polymer and/or acrylated or methacrylated acrylonitrile-butadiene-oligomer or -polymer, and optionally a polymer component containing a polymer powder or a prepolymer on methacrylate-basis.