The purpose of this study was to determine the flexural strength (FS), flexural modulus (FM), depth of cure (DC), polymerization shrinkage (PS), and microhardness (VH) of the following composites:
• Two packable composites - Filtek P-60 and Solitaire 2;
One ion-releasing composite - Ariston AT; and
• Two hybrid composites - Charisma and Filtek Z-250.
Data of the different tests conducted were obtained as follows:
• FS and FM data were determined with a universal-testing machine;
• Polymerization shrinkage was determined using the apparatus of Watts and Cash;
• Depth of cure was measured with a micrometer (Mitotuyo, UK); and
• Microhardness was measured with a Shimadzu Microhardness tester (500g, 15 seconds).
All data of the different tests were statistically analyzed by one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), which yielded the following results:
• Filtek Z-250 showed the statistically highest flexural strength and modulus values.
• Solitaire 2 exhibited the highest shrinkage, while the volumetric shrinkage results of Filtek Z-250 and Filtek P-60 ranked the lowest.
• For depth of cure, there were no statistically significant differences among all materials tested (p<0.05).
• Microhardness results revealed the following tendency: Filtek Z-250=Filtek P-60>Ariston AT=Solitaire 2=Charisma.