COMPARISON OF THE MICROHARDNESS OF BULK FILL COMPOSITES.

The aim of this study is to compare the microhardness of five different bulk fill composites (SDR, TEC, XTF, SF, FBF). A total of 25 cylindrical molds were prepared. Composite resin was placed in each mold in sequence, at one time, by condensing it thoroughly. Then, the polymerization of the composites was achieved with the LED light device which was applied for 20 seconds. Microhardness measurements of the samples were made with the classical Vicker's test. The data of our study were evaluated by using the Kruskal Wallis H test with the SPSS 20.0 package program. When the measured surface microhardness values were compared between the groups; microhardness values SDR and FBF groups were found to be significantly lower than TEC, XTF and KSF groups (p<0.05). When the sub-surface microhardness values were compared between the groups; the microhardness value of the SDR group was found to be significantly higher than the FBF group, and significantly lower than the TEC, XTF and KSF groups (p<0.05). When both the lower and upper surface microhardness values were compared between the groups, XTF was found to be the bulk fill composite group with the best microhardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]