Application of flake shaped glass (Glass Flake®) filler for dental composite resin

For dental composite resin (CR), mechanical strength, estheticity and flowability are required. In this study, flake-shaped glass (FSG; Glass Flake®) was employed as the filler of CR. FSG is composed of thin glass platelets with a flat, smooth surface. FSG-filled CR (FSG/CR) showed good transparency compared to an irregularly shaped filler. The Vickers hardness of FSG/CR was increased with increasing FSG content and was comparable to that of a commercial CR at 70 wt % FSG content. The compressive strength of FSG/CR with silanized FSG was also comparable to that of the commercial CR. The flowability of uncured FSG/CR was much higher than that of the CR containing the irregularly shaped filler and that of commercial flowable CR with the same filler content. Thus, FSG will be useful as a filler of dental CR that provides estheticity, mechanical strength and flowability.