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DEVELOPMENT OF A PULSED LED DENTAL PHOTOCURING SYSTEM
Phone: (302) 857-6656
Email: NMELIKECHI@AOL.COM
Phone: (302) 672-7138
Email: AERHOADS@AOL.COM
DESCRIPTION: Recently, New Photonics LLC (NP) demonstrated that newly developed
blue Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) used in continuous mode can provide up to 4
mm depth of cure in Dental composite resin in about 2 minutes of exposure.
Despite its many advantages, the commercial viability of this LED-based
technology would be significantly enhanced if the time of exposure necessary
for curing is reduced to a few seconds. The application proposes to investigate
the use of LEDs in a pulsed mode as a source of optical radiation for curing
Dental composite resins. The spectral output of the widely available blue-green
LEDs peaks at the excitation maximum of the camphorquinone photoinitiators used
in most Dental composites. The luminous output of the LEDs is entirely within
the absorption band of the photoinitiators. Use of pulsed LEDs is an attractive
option because it may allow for fine-tuning of the pulse timings to suitably
match the photopolymerization dynamics thus reducing cure time to what is
currently achieved with lasers. NP will develop a pulsed LED curing system and
investigate the curing characteristics (depth of cure, degree of conversion of
monomers to polymer, hardness, time of exposure, thermal load) of Dental resins
cured using pulsed LEDs.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *