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Background: The use of composites in dental restoration has been commonly criticized, due to their underwhelming
mechanical properties. This problem may be solved partially by preheating. The present research aims to
determine the effect of preheating on the mechanical properties of two different classes of composites.
Material and Methods: A Silorane-based (Silorane) and a Methacrylate-based (Z250) composite were preheated to
different temperatures (25, 37, and 68 °C) and afterwards were tested with the appropriate devices for each testing
protocol. The materialâ s flexural strength, elastic modulus, and Vickers microhardness were evaluated. Two-way
ANOVA, and Tukeyâ s post hoc were used to analyze the data.
Results: Microhardness and elastic modulus increased with preheating, while flexural strength values did not increase
significantly with preheating. Furthermore the methacrylate-based composite (Z250) showed higher values
compared to the Silorane-based composite (Silorane) in all the tested properties.
Conclusions: Preheating Silorane enhances the compositeâ s microhardness and elastic modulus but does not affect
its flexural strength. On the other hand, preheating Z250 increases its microhardness but does not change its flexural
strength or elastic modulus. In addition, the Z250 composite shows higher microhardness and flexural strength than
Silorane, but the elastic modulus values with preheating are similar. Therefore Z250 seems to have better mechanical
properties making it the better choice in a clinical situation.
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