Skip to main content
Bulletin of the National Research Centre
Download PDF

Glass fiber-reinforced composites in dentistry

Bulletin of the National Research Centre volume 45, Article number: 190 (2021) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Enormous improvements in dental materials’ manufacturing for the aim of producing durable dental materials without compromising the aesthetic properties were developed. One of the approaches that fulfill this aim is the use of reinforcing glass fibers as fillers into dental materials, typically resin polymers, in order to obtain glass fiber-reinforced composites. Glass fiber-reinforced composite offered many advantages to the dental materials though some limitations were recorded in many literature.

Methods

In this review, a study of the glass fibers’ types, factors affecting the properties and the properties of glass fibers reinforced materials was carried out; in addition, research papers that experimentally studied their applications in dentistry were presented.

Conclusion

The success of glass fibers reinforced composites in dentistry depends on glass fibers’ composition, orientation, distribution, amount, length and adhesion; these factors once employed according to the required clinical situation would provide the essential reinforcement to the dental restorations and appliances.

Background

Glass fibers are thin strands, silica-based glass, that are extruded into small-diameter fibers. These fibers are enclosed into resin matrix to produce glass fiber-reinforced composites.

Glass fiber-reinforced composites are polymerized monomer matrix that is filled by fine thin glass fibers, chemically bonded to that matrix using silane coupling agents. The concept of the reinforcing effect of the fiber fillers depends on the transfer of stress from the polymer to the fibers as well as the role of each fiber in preventing crack propagation.

Glass fibers are existing in different compositions, namely A-glass, C-glass, D-glass, AR-glass, S-glass and E-glass, they have different properties and uses, but generally, all glass fibers are amorphous, and they are formed of three-dimensional network of silica, with oxygen and other atoms arranged randomly.

Glass fibers are employed in different fields, such as engineering, plastic industries, electronic boards, radar housing and in dentistry. They are applied in the manufacturing of different dental products such as fixed partial denture, endodontic post systems and orthodontic fixed retainers.

Glass fiber-reinforced composite offers many advantages to the dental materials, as they provide acceptable aesthetics, non-corrosiveness, high toughness, metal free, non-allergic effect, applicable chair side handling, biocompatibility and ability to be tailored to meet the specific requirement of many dental applications (Ferracane and Condon 1992; Ramakrishna et al. 2001).

Methods

Different types of reinforcing fibers exist, such as carbon/epoxy, polyaramide, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and glass fibers. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages; for instance, carbon/epoxy fibers have high tensile, fatigue strength and modulus of elasticity, but poor esthetics, while polyaramide fibers are difficult to handle and polish; on the other hand, UHMWPE fibers have poor adhesion to polymer matrix; meanwhile, glass fibers have enhanced adhesion to the polymer matrix with better esthetics; that’s why glass fibers have gained wide-spread in dentistry (Khan et al. 2015).

Glass fibers types (Khan et al. 2015).

  1. 1.

    A-Glass fibers: they are high-alkali glass with 25% soda and lime. They are used as filler in plastic industry as they are cheap and easy to manufacture though they have poor chemical resistance to water and alkaline media.

  2. 2.

    C-Glass fibers: they have high chemical resistance to corrosion so they are used in contact with acidic materials; however, they have low strength properties.

  3. 3.

    D-Glass fibers: they have greater electrical properties and low dielectric permittivity so they are used in electronic boards as a reinforcing material. However, they have low strength and poor chemical resistance.

  4. 4.

    S-Glass fibers: they have high strength, modulus of elasticity, corrosion resistance with low dielectric permittivity. Unfortunately, they are difficult to manufacture and thus are expensive.

  5. 5.

    AR-Glass fibers: they have high resistance to crack propagation and great impact strength due to the presence of zirconium; however, they have high melting temperature that restricts their application.

  6. 6.

    E-Glass fibers: they are electric grade glass fibers and are the most used type of glass fibers (50% of the glass fiber market) (Kolesov et al. 2001), due to their low cost, high electrical insulation and high water resistance. Unfortunately, boron oxide and fluorine are volatile elements that might disturb the glass chemical homogeneity and pollute the environment.

Of all these types, only E-glass and S-glass fibers have used in dentistry. Many dental products reinforced with glass fibers are available commercially such as pre-impregnated E-glass fiber-reinforced composite (Vectris Pontic, Ivoclar Vivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein), pre-impregnated S-glass fiber-reinforced composite (FiberKor, Pentron Corporation,Wallingford, CT, USA) and PMMA-impregnated E-glass fiber-reinforced composite (Stick Tech, Turku, Finland) (Khan et al. 2015).

Factors affecting the properties of glass fiber-reinforced dental materials

Chemical composition of glass fibers

The content of alkali metals (Li, Na, K, etc.) and alkaline earth metals (Mg, Ca, etc.) in glass fibers plays an important role in their physical and mechanical properties. The chemical composition and the properties of the most used glass fibers in dentistry, S-glass and E-glass, are listed in Table 1. It is well documented that the constitutional elements of glass fibers are critical factors for the hydrolytic stability of the glass fibers. Boron oxide (B2O3), for example, could react with saliva in oral cavity with the subsequent leaching of B2O3; this reaction induces corrosion effects on glass fibers causing negative impact on glass strength. E-glass fibers contain 6–9 wt% B2O3 and S-glass fibers contain less than 1 wt% B2O3 (Li et al. 2014; Miettinen et al. 1999). This problem was overcome by pre-impregnating (Pre-preg) the glass fibers with polymer matrix, or the use of impregnated fibers, which are glass fibers impregnated with highly porous PMMA during manufacturing (Takahashi et al. 2006).

Table 1 A comparison between S-glass and E-glass fibers, composition and properties. (Meriç et al. 2005; Chong and Chai 2003; Vallittu 1998)
Full size table

Orientation of glass fibers in the polymer matrix

Glass fibers are present in different orientations in the polymer matrix; these orientation provide different properties and strengthening effect. They could have random or longitudinal orientation; the random (chopped) oriented fibers give isotropic properties, i.e., same mechanical properties in all directions, while the longitudinal orientation in the form of (a) unidirectional continuous fiber laminates, which provide anisotropic effect, i.e., they have different properties in different direction; it shows the highest strength and stiffness in composite, but only in the one direction of the fibers. (b) bidirectional discontinuous short and long fiber or textile fabrics (woven, knitted and braided fabrics) laminates which present orthotropic effect, i.e., same properties in two directions with different properties in the third, orthogonal direction. A combination of two or more types of orientations in a composite is called hybrid fiber composites (Tezvergil et al. 2003).

In general, the parallel orientation of the glass fibers to the applied force results in strength reinforcement, while those perpendicular to the applied force yield low reinforcement (Khan et al. 2015).

A composite with the longer fibers displays higher wear resistance (Callaghan et al. 2006), higher ultimate strength and fracture resistance (Xu et al. 2000). Garoushi et al. (2007b) and Manhart et al. (2000) stated that short glass fibers can be detached readily from the matrix resulting in high wear.

In addition, glass fiber orientation affects thermal behavior and polymerization shrinkage of the composites as well (Tezvergil et al. 2006).

Distribution of fibers

The distribution of glass fibers, whether evenly distributed or concentrated in a particular site, affects its mechanical properties. If they are evenly distributed, fatigue strength increases, and if they are concentrated at one area, then the stiffness and strength increase (Khan et al. 2015). Usually, distribution of glass fibers is controlled by its application; however, in most dental literature, glass fibers were positioned in the center of the specimens (Dos Santos et al. 2000).

A study conducted by Alander et al. in 2021 proved that FRC reinforcement positioning is very importance in cantilever fixed partial denture; they suggested that glass fibers should be within the tension side which is near the occlusal surface of the cantilever bridge (Alander et al. 2021).

Amount of glass fibers

Glass fiber should be covered with a sufficient layer of polymer composite to avoid wear; therefore, very high concentration of glass fibers is not preferred. It was found that more than 7.6 wt% glass fiber loading may result in a cluster of fibers with diminutive matrix in-between, resulting in a poor fiber bonding. The ultimate fiber loading for superior wear resistance is from 2.0 to 7.6 wt% (Lassila and Vallittu 2004).

Critical fiber length and fiber aspect ratio

In order to transmit the stress from the matrix to the fibers, fibers should have a sufficient length that is equal or greater than the so-called critical fiber length (Landel and Nielsen 1993). Critical fiber length could be calculated using a fiber fragmentation test. It was estimated that the critical lengths of E-glass with Bis-GMA polymer matrix are from 0.5 to 1.6 mm (Cheng et al. 1993). Weak adhesion between the fibers and polymer matrix could be compensated by increasing the critical length of glass fibers (Karacaer et al. 2003).

Additionally, a certain length to diameter ratio of the fiber called “fiber aspect ratio” needs attention to achieve optimum properties. Several studies examined a range of fiber aspect ratios added to dental composites and concluded that dental composites reinforced with a range of 50–500, i.e., low fiber aspect ratio, are the best range for reinforcing dental composites (Shouha et al. 2014).

In an experimental conducted by Behl et al. in 2020, flowability, mechanical properties and degree of conversion were tested for a variety of experimentally prepared GFRCs containing low fiber aspect ratio of 50, 70 and 100, micro-sized fibers (5 μm diameter). They concluded that micro-sized fibers can enhance flexural and compressive properties without significantly affecting flowability and degree of conversion and that the best composition is 5% of 70 fiber aspect ratio (Behl et al. 2020).

Bond between glass fibers and polymer matrix

Glass fiber reinforcement is achieved merely when load is transferred from the matrix to the glass fibers; therefore, fibers should have strong bond to the matrix to attain good reinforcement (Lastumäki et al. 2003). To achieve this, impregnation of the glass fibers, as well as their adhesion to polymer matrix, should have the ultimate concern.

Poor impregnation creates voids between the matrix and the fiber resulting in poor flexural strength, low elastic modulus and high water sorption that cause hydrolytic degradation of polysiloxane network and subsequent discoloration (Miettinen and Vallittu 1997; Lassila et al. 2002). Good impregnation can be obtained through pre-impregnated of fibers with monomers and/or, polymers, such as light polymerizable bifunctional acrylate or methacrylate monomers (Lastumäki et al. 2002).

On the other hand, poor adhesion results in stress concentration at the glass fiber’s interface (Kallio et al. 2001; Cheikh et al. 2001). It is worth mentioning that the attraction force between glass fibers and polymer matrix is the result of many factors, for instance, van der Waals forces, chemical bond, electrostatic attraction and mechanical interlocking (DiBenedetto et al. 1995). Chemical adhesion between glass fiber and polymer matrix is obtained using 3- (trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA) silane coupling agent (Rosentritt et al. 2001).

Silanization and impregnation of fibers with a resin improve the hydrolytic stability and prevent water sorption of the composite. Multiple studies concluded that water sorption causes reduction in flexural strength and load bearing capacity of denture base polymers, causing plasticizing effect (Garoushi et al. 2007a).

Many commercially available glass fibers, such as S-glass fibers, are coated with lubricants, antistatic agents, polymeric binders and dust; this coating should be removed to enable appropriate bond to resin (Tomao et al. 1998). In addition, glass fibers should be etched using hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid to selectively remove Al2O3 and MgO on the surface of the fibers without destroying SiO2; this selective atomic level etching technique increases the surface roughness of the fibers and thus provides mechanical interlocking. Moreover, etching exposes plentiful hydroxyl groups thus provides strong chemical bonding with silane coupling agents. This treatment showed 11 ~ 40% increases in interfacial shear strength, and it improves the flexural strength and modulus of composites filled with modified S-glass fibers (Cho et al. 2019; Wang et al. 2020).

Properties of reinforced glass fiber materials

Mechanical properties

Geometry of the reinforcement fibers as well as fiber–resin interfaces in GFRC system affects dramatically many mechanical properties, such as strength, stiffness, toughness, static, impact and fatigue properties (Table 2). Additionally, silanization of glass fibers increases the hardness and diametric tensile (Debnath et al. 2004). The efficiency of the fiber reinforcement varies according to fiber orientation (Tuusa et al. 2007). Krenchel (Krenchel 1964) suggested that the efficiency of the fiber reinforcement (Krenchel's factor; value 0 to 1) estimates the strength of FRCs. As shown in Fig. 1, if fibers are oriented in continuous unidirectional manner, then the reinforcing efficiency will be 1 (100%), but are only gained in one direction (Murphy 1998), while continuous bi-directional (woven, weave) fibers have reinforcing efficacy of 0.5 (50%) or 0.25 (25%) and are equal in two directions. Yet, woven fibers are advantageous in many clinical situations, where the direction of the load is unknown or where there is no space for unidirectional fibers; woven fibers also provide additional toughness to the polymer, as it prevents crack propagation. On the other hand, random chopped short FRCs provide Krenchel's factor of 0.38 (38%) in two dimensions and 0.2 (20%) in three dimensions, where the mechanical properties are the same (isotropic) three-dimensionally (Chong and Chai 2003).

Table 2 Mechanical properties of some experimentally tested glass fiber-reinforced composites (Ylä-Soininmäki et al. 2013)
Full size table
Fig. 1
figure1

Krenchel's factor of fibers according to their orientation in plane

Full size image

Optical properties

Glass fibers possess similar refractive index to that of resin; therefore, they allow light transmittance efficiently (Khan et al. 2015). Accordingly, addition of glass fibers to dental composite will improve their mechanical properties without affecting the degree of conversion of resin matrix, unlike opaque colored kelvin, carbon or zirconia fibers (Behl et al. 2020).

Viscoelastic properties

Studies revealed that the viscoelastic behavior of polymers reinforced using glass fibers was 15.32 GPa which is comparable to dentin (17GPa) (Khan et al. 2008).

Adhesive properties

Adhesion is an important property in dental practice, as the success of different restorative systems depends on adhesion. In a study conducted by La Bell et al., on the adhesion of titanium post, carbon fiber-reinforced posts and glass fiber-reinforced post to cements, they found that only GFRC posts showed no adhesive failure, while titanium and carbon fiber-reinforced composites posts showed 70% and 55% failure rate, respectively (Le Bell et al. 2005).

Thermal properties

The orientation of glass fibers has an impact on the linear coefficient of thermal expansion; linear coefficient of thermal expansion for unidirectional glass fiber was found to have an average of 5.0 × 10−6 °C−1 (Tezvergil et al. 2003). Interestingly, studies revealed that continuous unidirectional reinforced fibers have two coefficients of thermal expansion values, a lower value, in the direction parallel to the fibers, and a higher value, in the direction perpendicular to the fibers, as the rigidity of the fibers inhibits expansion of the matrix longitudinally and allows expansion in the transverse direction.

Biocompatibility

Many studies revealed that glass fiber-reinforced filling materials have low microbial adhesion to Streptococcus mutans compared to dentin and enamel (Murphy 1998). For instance, in a study conducted on Candida albicans adhesion to GFRC, it was observed that the impregnated hydrophobic resins with E-glass fibers reduced microbes adhesion (Assif et al. 1993).

Biocompatibility of BisGMA/TEGDMA reinforced with E-glass fibers evaluation revealed good proliferation and differentiation of cultured cells (Waltimo et al. 1999); in another study on fiber-reinforced oral implant, inspected using micro-CT scans, bone trabeculae was observed between the FRC implant’s threads, which prove their excellent biocompatibility (Ballo et al. 2014).

Dental applications of glass fibers as reinforcing agent

Prosthodontic applications

The application for glass fibers as reinforcement agent in denture base may be the earliest application of GFRC in dentistry (1960s.) (Khan et al. 2015), and it proved successful influence on mechanical properties. Stress transfer can be reduced by adding glass fibers to the denture base (Duraisamy et al. 2019). Results revealed that denture base reinforced using 6-mm chopped glass fibers resulted in an increase in transverse strength, elastic modulus & impact strength (Selvan and Ganapathy 2016). Conversely, other studies mentioned that the use of GFRC as removable dentures provides high fatigue resistance but low flexural modulus (Karmaker et al. 1997). Meanwhile, most researches consider GFRC to be an excellent option for making denture base, due to their high fatigue resistance, the ability of resisting extremely high temperature, moisture and oil, as well as the property of polishing (Subasree and Murthykumar 2016).

In a study that compared the bonding strength of polymer matrix with denture base polymers enclosing either carbon, aramide, woven polyethylene or glass fibers, results revealed that glass fibers yielded the best esthetics and ease of bonding to the polymer matrix (Freilich et al. 1998).

Glass fiber-reinforced autopolymerizing resin can be utilized for repairing a broken denture, with a 45° bevel joint design of the broken surfaces and surface pretreatment; it proved to minimize stress concentration and to improve the transverse strength of the repaired denture base (Mamatha et al. 2020).

Glass fiber-reinforced composites are also utilized in the fabrication of fixed partial denture instead of the conventional cast metal resin-bonded fixed partial denture; they present adhesive, esthetic, metal-free, high elastic modulus, high fracture strength, low risk of allergy and low-cost option for tooth replacements (Van Heumen et al. 2009a). Studies reported that GFRC FPDs had 71% success rate and 78% survival rate after 5 years in the posterior area (van Heumen et al. 2009b).

Additionally, FRC CAD/CAM composite was evaluated for the fabrication of fixed dental prostheses; FRC consisted of parallel glass fibers dispersed in a multi-layer bi-direction manner into resin matrix. Results confirmed high reliability to the expected physiological masticatory load in the molar region (Bergamo et al. 2021).

Another study investigated the mechanical properties of short GFRC fabricated as temporary crown and bridge and found high flexural strength (117 MPa) and compressive load bearing capacity (730 MPa) compared to the conventional temporary crowns and bridges (Garoushi et al. 2008).

Endodontic applications

GFRC endodontic posts are another option introduced to endodontic dentistry; they are either prefabricated posts or individually polymerized GFRC ones.

Individually polymerized GFRC posts show higher flexural strengths and better bond to composite resin luting cement than the prefabricated posts (Le Bell et al. 2005; Biały et al. 2020).

Studies revealed that glass fibers oriented parallel to the long axis of the post, provided high strength and elastic modulus in this direction (Chieruzzi et al. 2014).

GFRC endodontic posts have the advantage of allowing light transmitted deep into the root canal and thus increase bonding of the cement to the post and dentin (Vieira et al. 2021).

Tooth restoration applications

One of the applications of glass fiber-reinforced composite is dental restorations, short glass fibers have positive impact on polymerization shrinkage stresses of composite resin and, accordingly, on marginal microleakage; therefore, it is an ideal choice in posterior and bulk composite restorations. Experimental studies on short GFRCs displayed high fracture toughness, flexural strength and flexural modulus (Garoushi et al. 2012).

Short GFRC (everX Posterior, GC, Tokyo, Japan) is a dental restorative composite resin product that was introduced into markets as dentin replacement in large cavities below conventional composite, to reinforce it and prevent fracture (Fallis and Kusy 1999). It consists of 8.6 wt% randomly orientated short E-glass fibers and 67.7 wt% barium glass fillers and resin matrix; this composite restoration showed high load bearing capacity, flexural strength and fracture toughness (Säilynoja et al. 2013).

Another impressive glass fiber-reinforced resin disk (TRINIA, SHOFU, Kyoto, Japan) that utilizes CAD/CAM technique for tooth restoration was introduced. It contains 55 wt% multi-directionally interlaced glass fibers, aligned as woven layers, parallel to the top surface of the disk. The size of E-glass fibers was 1.2–1.5 mm in width and 0.1–0.4 mm in thickness, respectively. It demonstrated high flexural strength (254.2- 248.8 MPa) and fracture toughness (9.1 ± 0.4 MPa/m1/2), but these properties are anisotropy; therefore, this material can be used only in specific directions recommended by the manufacturer (Suzaki et al. 2020).

Novel dental composite filler, composed of nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) and E-glass fibers, was created using the microwave irradiation technique; these fillers combine the advantages of bioceramic (nHA) and the high strength of E-glass fiber. The degree of conversion, flexural strength and micro-hardness results were very promising; however, flexural strength and water sorption behavior of the experimental composites decreased with increasing nHA/E-glass fibers (Syed et al. 2020).

Orthodontic applications

An esthetic orthodontic retainer was presented as a new clinical use of GFRC. It provides high fracture strength and high adhesive bond strength to enamel and to orthodontic attachments (Meiers et al. 2003).

A study compared the bond strength of glass fibers and stainless steel bonded lingual orthodontic retainers, to maxillary and mandibular teeth, for six years, revealed that detachment rate and breakage rate of glass fibers retainers are lower than stainless steel retainers (Rosenberg 1980).

First-generation GFRC retainers presented by Burstone and Kuhlberg (2000) were too rigid to allow tooth movement; recently, glass fiber (EverStick Ortho*) pre-impregnated with PMMA polymer was introduced; they offered micromechanical and chemical adhesion (Lastumäki et al. 2002). Alternatively, GFRC space maintainers placed on primary teeth are prone to failure, either due to presence of prismless enamel or due to moisture contamination (Zachrisson 1977).

Periodontal applications

Periodontal splints made of fiber-reinforced resin have provided clinicians the sufficient mechanical strength of metal splints with the satisfactory aesthetics of resins; in addition, they are simple in design, durable (Meiers et al. 1998), don’t interrupt the occlusion and facilitate keeping good oral hygiene (Kumbuloglu et al. 2011).

Limitations of glass fibers reinforced materials

Though glass fibers have been investigated as reinforcing agent in dental polymers for almost forty years, still some of these materials may have limitations, for example,

  1. 1.

    It is not always applicable to include sufficient glass fibers.

  2. 2.

    Some GFRCs can only be used in the particular direction, recommended by the manufacturer, due to the anisotropy property.

  3. 3.

    Overlying veneering composite is prone to wear.

  4. 4.

    Deficient rigidity for use in long-span bridges.

  5. 5.

    Handling requires adequate moisture control for adhesive technique.

  6. 6.

    Posterior occlusal situations should have sufficient space to allow enough room for the glass fibers and the overlying veneering composite (Butterworth et al. 2003).

  7. 7.

    Relatively higher density of glass fibers compared to other fibers as carbon and organic fibers.

  8. 8.

    Self-abrasive if not treated and the tensile modulus would be prone to decrease.

  9. 9.

    Relatively low fatigue resistance (Zhang and Matinlinna 2012).

  10. 10.

    The S-glass is very costly though their service life is short.

Conclusions

The interest in using glass fiber-reinforced dental materials is growing; these materials offer strength and toughness equivalent to dental tissues, with very satisfactory aesthetics.

In this review, types of glass fibers and factors affecting the properties of fibers reinforced materials were revealed, and the properties and the applications of fiber-reinforced composites were discussed. This extensive research proved the effectiveness of glass fiber reinforcement in many dental restorations, as long as glass fibers’ composition, orientation, distribution, amount, length, and adhesion are well performed in accordance with every clinical situation. In conclusion, the reported success of glass fibers as reinforcing material surpasses their limitations.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

UHMWPE:

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

PMMA:

Polymethyl methacrylate

Al2O3 :

Aluminum oxide

B2O:

Barium oxide

MgO:

Magnesium oxide

Li:

Lithium

Na:

Sodium

K:

Potassium

B2O3 :

Boron oxide

Pre-preg:

Pre-impregnation

GFRCs:

Glass fiber-reinforced composites

FRC:

Fiber-reinforced composite

SiO2 :

Silicon oxide

CaO:

Calcium oxide

FPDs:

Fixed partial dentures

nHA:

Nanohydroxyapatite

TMSPMA:

3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate

References

  1. Alander P, Perea-Lowery L, Vesterinen K, Suominen A, SÄilynoja E, Vallittu PK (2021) Layer structure and load-bearing properties of fibre reinforced composite beam used in cantilever fixed dental prostheses. Dental Mater J 40(1):165–172

    Google Scholar 

  2. Assif D, Bitenski A, Pilo R, Oren E (1993) Effect of post design on resistance to fracture of endodontically treated teeth with complete crowns. J Prosthet Dent 69:36–40

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Ballo AM, Cekic-Nagas I, Ergun G, Lassila L, Palmquist A et al (2014) Osseointegration of fiber-reinforced composite implants: histological and ultrastructural observations. Dent Mater 30:e384–e395

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Behl S, Rajan G, Ellakwa A, Farrar P, Prusty BG (2020) Physical and mechanical characterisation of flowable dental composites reinforced with short aspect ratio micro-sized S-Glass fibres. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl 111:110771

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bergamo ET, Bastos TM, Lopes AC, de Araujo Júnior EN, Coelho PG et al (2021) Physicochemical and mechanical characterization of a fiber-reinforced composite used as frameworks of implant-supported prostheses. Dental Mater 37(8):e443–e453

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Biały M, Szust A, Napadłek P, Dobrzyński M, Więckiewicz W (2020) The three-point bending test of fiber-reinforced composite root canal posts. Adv Clin Exp Med 29:1111–1116

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Burstone CJ, Kuhlberg AJ (2000) Fiber-reinforced composites in orthodontics-applications of state-of-the-art polymers are illustrated. J Clin Orthod 34:271–279

    Google Scholar 

  8. Butterworth C, Ellakwa AE, Shortall A (2003) Fibre-reinforced composites in restorative dentistry. Dent Update 30:300–306

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Callaghan DJ, Vaziri A, Nayeb-Hashemi H (2006) Effect of fiber volume fraction and length on the wear characteristics of glass fiber-reinforced dental composites. Dent Mater 22:84–93

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Cheikh M, Coorevits P, Loredo A (2001) Modelling the stress vector continuity at the interface of bonded joints. Int J Adhes Adhes 21:249–257

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cheng T-H, Jones F, Wang D (1993) Effect of fibre conditioning on the interfacial shear strength of glass-fibre composites. Compos Sci Technol 48:89–96

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Chieruzzi M, Rallini M, Pagano S, Eramo S, D’Errico P et al (2014) Mechanical effect of static loading on endodontically treated teeth restored with fiber-reinforced posts. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 102:384–394

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Cho K, Wang G, Raju R, Rajan G, Fang J et al (2019) Influence of surface treatment on the interfacial and mechanical properties of short S-glass fiber-reinforced dental composites. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 11:32328–32338

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Chong H, Chai J (2003) Strength and mode of failure of unidirectional and bidirectional glass fiber–reinforced composite materials. Int J Prosthodont 16:161

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Debnath S, Ranade R, Wunder S, McCool J, Boberick K, Baran G (2004) Interface effects on mechanical properties of particle-reinforced composites. Dent Mater 20:677–686

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. DiBenedetto A, Connelly S, Lee W, Accorsi M (1995) The properties of organosiloxane/polyester interfaces at an E-glass fiber surface. J Adhes 52:41–64

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dos Santos LA, De Oliveira LC, da Silva Rigo EC, Carrodéguas RG, Boschi AO, Fonseca de Arruda AC (2000) Fiber reinforced calcium phosphate cement. Artif Organs 24:212–216

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Duraisamy R, Krishnan CS, Ramasubramanian H, Sampathkumar J, Mariappan S, Sivaprakasam AN (2019) Compatibility of nonoriginal abutments with implants: Evaluation of microgap at the implant–abutment interface, with original and nonoriginal abutments. Implant Dent 28:289–295

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Fallis DW, Kusy RP (1999) Novel esthetic bonded retainers: a blend of art and science. Clin Orthod Res 2:200–208

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Ferracane J, Condon J (1992) Post-cure heat treatments for composites: properties and fractography. Dent Mater 8:290–295

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Freilich MA, Karmaker AC, Burstone CJ, Goldberg AJ (1998) Development and clinical applications of a light-polymerized fiber-reinforced composite. J Prosthet Dent 80:311–318

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Garoushi S, Vallittu PK, Lassila LV (2007a) Short glass fiber reinforced restorative composite resin with semi-inter penetrating polymer network matrix. Dent Mater 23:1356–1362

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Garoushi S, Vallittu PK, Lassila LV (2007b) Use of short fiber-reinforced composite with semi-interpenetrating polymer network matrix in fixed partial dentures. J Dent 35:403–408

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Garoushi SK, Vallittu PK, Lassila L (2008) Short glass fiber-reinforced composite with a semi-interpenetrating polymer network matrix for temporary crowns and bridges. J Contemp Dent Pract 9:14–21

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Garoushi S, Tanner J, Vallittu P, Lassila L (2012) Preliminary clinical evaluation of short fiber-reinforced composite resin in posterior teeth: 12-months report. Open Dent J 6:41

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Kallio T, Lastumäki T, Vallittu P (2001) Bonding of restorative and veneering composite resin to somepolymeric composites. Dent Mater 17:80–86

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Karacaer Ö, Polat TN, Tezvergıl A, Lassıla LV, Vallıttu PK (2003) The effect of length and concentration of glass fibers on the mechanical properties of an injection-and a compression-molded denture base polymer. J Prosthet Dent 90:385–393

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Karmaker A, DiBenedetto A, Goldberg A (1997) Continuous fiber reinforced composite materials as alternatives for metal alloys used for dental appliances. J Biomater Appl 11:318–328

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Khan AS, Phillips MJ, Tanner KE, Wong FS (2008) Comparison of the visco-elastic behavior of a pre-impregnated reinforced glass fiber composite with resin-based composite. Dent Mater 24:1534–1538

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Khan AS, Azam MT, Khan M, Mian SA, Rehman IU (2015) An update on glass fiber dental restorative composites: a systematic review. Mater Sci Eng C 47:26–39

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Kolesov YI, Kudryavtsev MY, Mikhailenko NY (2001) Types and compositions of glass for production of continuous glass fiber. Glass Ceram 58:197–202

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Krenchel H (1964) Fibre reinforcement; theoretical and practical investigations of the elasticity and strength of fibre-reinforced materials.

  33. Kumbuloglu O, Saracoglu A, Özcan M (2011) Pilot study of unidirectional E-glass fibre-reinforced composite resin splints: up to 4.5-year clinical follow-up. J Dent 39:871–877

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Landel RF, Nielsen LE (1993) Mechanical properties of polymers and composites. CRC Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  35. Lassila L, Vallittu PK (2004) The effect of fiber position and polymerization condition on the flexural properties of fiber-reinforced composite. J Contemp Dent Pract 5:14–26

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Lassila L, Nohrström T, Vallittu P (2002) The influence of short-term water storage on the flexural properties of unidirectional glass fiber-reinforced composites. Biomaterials 23:2221–2229

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Lastumäki T, Kallio T, Vallittu P (2002) The bond strength of light-curing composite resin to finally polymerized and aged glass fiber-reinforced composite substrate. Biomaterials 23:4533–4539

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Lastumäki T, Lassila L, Vallittu P (2003) The semi-interpenetrating polymer network matrix of fiber-reinforced composite and its effect on the surface adhesive properties. J Mater Sci Mater Med 14:803–809

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Le Bell A-M, Lassila LV, Kangasniemi I, Vallittu PK (2005) Bonding of fibre-reinforced composite post to root canal dentin. J Dent 33:533–539

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Li H, Richards C, Watson J (2014) High-performance glass fiber development for composite applications. Int J Appl Glas Sci 5:65–81

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Mamatha N, Madineni PK, Sisir R, Sravani S, Nallamilli S, Jyothy JR (2020) Evaluation of transverse strength of heat cure denture bases repaired with different joint surface contours: an in vitro study. J Contemp Dent Pract 21:166–170

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Manhart J, Kunzelmann KH, Chen HY, Hickel R (2000) Mechanical properties of new composite restorative materials. J Biomed Mater Res 53:353–361

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Meiers JC, Duncan JP, Freilich MA, Goldberg AJ (1998) Preimpregnated, fiber-reinforced prostheses. Part II. Direct applications: Splints and fixed partial dentures. Quintessence Int 29(12):761–768

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Meiers JC, Kazemi RB, Donadio M (2003) The influence of fiber reinforcement of composites on shear bond strengths to enamel. J Prosthet Dent 89:388–393

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Meriç G, Dahl JE, Ruyter IE (2005) Physicochemical evaluation of silica-glass fiber reinforced polymers for prosthodontic applications. Eur J Oral Sci 113:258–264

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Miettinen VM, Vallittu PK (1997) Water sorption and solubility of glass fiber-reinforced denture polymethyl methacrylate resin. J Prosthet Dent 77:531–534

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Miettinen VM, Narva KK, Vallittu PK (1999) Water sorption, solubility and effect of post-curing of glass fibre reinforced polymers. Biomaterials 20:1187–1194

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Murphy J (1998) The reinforced plastics handbook. Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  49. Ramakrishna S, Mayer J, Wintermantel E, Leong KW (2001) Biomedical applications of polymer-composite materials: a review. Compos Sci Technol 61:1189–1224

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Rosenberg S (1980) A new method for stabilization of periodontally involved teeth. J Periodontol 51:469–473

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Rosentritt M, Behr M, Kolbeck C, Handel G (2001) In vitro repair of three-unit fiber-reinforced composite FPDs. Int J Prosthodontics 14:344–349

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Säilynoja ES, Lassila L, Garoushi S, Vallittu PK (2013) The effect of fibers length on the fracture toughness of short fiber reinforced composites. Dental Mater 29:e56

    Google Scholar 

  53. Selvan SR, Ganapathy D (2016) Efficacy of fifth generation cephalosporins against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-a review. Res J Pharmacy Technol 9:1815–1818

    Google Scholar 

  54. Shouha P, Swain M, Ellakwa A (2014) The effect of fiber aspect ratio and volume loading on the flexural properties of flowable dental composite. Dent Mater 30:1234–1244

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Subasree S, Murthykumar K (2016) Effect of aloe vera in oral health-a review. Res J Pharmacy Technol 9:609

    Google Scholar 

  56. Suzaki N, Yamaguchi S, Hirose N, Tanaka R, Takahashi Y et al (2020) Evaluation of physical properties of fiber-reinforced composite resin. Dent Mater 36:987–996

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Syed MR, Bano NZ, Ghafoor S, Khalid H, Zahid S et al (2020) Synthesis and characterization of bioactive glass fiber-based dental restorative composite. Ceram Int 46:21623–21631

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Takahashi Y, Chai J, Tan S-C (2006) Effect of water storage on the impact strength of three glass fiber-reinforced composites. Dent Mater 22:291–297

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Tezvergil A, Lassila LV, Vallittu PK (2003) The effect of fiber orientation on the thermal expansion coefficients of fiber-reinforced composites. Dent Mater 19:471–477

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Tezvergil A, Lassila L, Vallittu P (2006) The effect of fiber orientation on the polymerization shrinkage strain of fiber-reinforced composites. Dent Mater 22:610–616

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Tomao V, Siouffi A, Denoyel R (1998) Influence of time and temperature of hydrothermal treatment on glass fibers surface. J Chromatogr A 829:367–376

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Tuusa SR, Peltola M, Tirri T, Lassila L, Vallittu P (2007) Frontal bone defect repair with experimental glass-fiber-reinforced composite with bioactive glass granule coating. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 82:149–155

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Vallittu PK (1998) Some aspects of the tensile strength of unidirectional glass fibre–polymethyl methacrylate composite used in dentures. J Oral Rehabil 25:100–105

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Van Heumen CC, Kreulen CM, Creugers NH (2009a) Clinical studies of fiber-reinforced resin-bonded fixed partial dentures: a systematic review. Eur J Oral Sci 117:1–6

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. van Heumen CC, van Dijken JW, Tanner J, Pikaar R, Lassila LV et al (2009b) Five-year survival of 3-unit fiber-reinforced composite fixed partial dentures in the anterior area. Dent Mater 25:820–827

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Vieira C, Bachmann L, Chaves CDAL, Silva-Sousa YTC, Da Silva SRC, Alfredo E (2021) Light transmission and bond strength of glass fiber posts submitted to different surface treatments. J Prosthetic Dent 125:674. e1–74. e7

  67. Waltimo T, Tanner J, Vallittu P, Haapasalo M (1999) Adherence of Candida albicans to the surface of polymethylmethacrylate-E glass fiber composite used in dentures. Int J Prosthodontics 12:83–86

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Wang Y, Zhu M, Zhu X (2020) Functional fillers for dental resin composites. Acta Biomaterialia 122(1):50–65

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Xu HH, Eichmiller FC, Giuseppetti AA (2000) Reinforcement of a self-setting calcium phosphate cement with different fibers. J Biomed Mater Res 52:107–114

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Ylä-Soininmäki A, Moritz N, Lassila LV, Peltola M, Aro HT, Vallittu PK (2013) Characterization of porous glass fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) implant structures: porosity and mechanical properties. J Mater Sci Mater Med 24:2683–2693

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Zachrisson BU (1977) Clinical experience with direct-bonded orthodontic retainers. Am J Orthod 71:440–448

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Zhang M, Matinlinna JP (2012) E-glass fiber reinforced composites in dental applications. SILICON 4:73–78

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Funding

This review received no funds.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Restorative and Dental Materials Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth St. (Ex El-Tahrir), Dokki, 12311, Cairo, Egypt

    Engie M. Safwat

  2. Ahram Canadian University, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo, Egypt

    Ahmad G. A. Khater

  3. Ceramics Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

    Ahmed G. Abd-Elsatar

  4. Glass Research Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

    Gamal A. Khater

Authors
  1. Engie M. Safwat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ahmad G. A. Khater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ahmed G. Abd-Elsatar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gamal A. Khater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

ES and GK: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software. ES. and AK: Writing- Original draft preparation. AA: Software, Validation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Engie M. Safwat.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this review.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Safwat, E.M., Khater, A.G.A., Abd-Elsatar, A.G. et al. Glass fiber-reinforced composites in dentistry. Bull Natl Res Cent 45, 190 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-021-00650-7

Download citation

Keywords

  • Glass fibers
  • Resin polymers
  • Reinforced composite
  • Properties
  • Dental application