Evaluation of Temperature Changes in the Pulp Chamber During Bulk-Fill Composite Polymerization: An In-Vitro Study

Aim: To investigate the temperature changes occurring in the pulp chamber during the polymerization of bulk-fill resin materials cured with different light sources by using a pulpal microcirculation simulation device in vitro. Materials and Methods: Class I cavities of width 2 × 3 mm were prepared on 120 permanent noncarious teeth. All samples were adjusted to maintain 2 mm dentin thickness within the pulp chamber and the cavity base. Venus Bulk Fill, Tetric Evo Ceram Bulk Fill, Filtek Bulk Fill, and Filtek Z250 were used as restorative materials. Materials were polymerized with Valo Light Emitting Diode (LED), Elipar S10, and Elipar Deepcure-S devices. A j-type thermocouple with microcirculation assemblies was used for measuring the temperature increments inside the pulp chamber during the polymerization of bulk-fill composite resins. The obtained data were recorded. Results: Statistically significant difference was found between the light sources and the temperature changes occurring during the polymerization (P <.05). The difference in temperature increases was found to be significant (P <.05) between restorative materials. The highest temperature rise values were obtained from Venus Bulk Fill. Conclusion: All light devices used in the study caused an increase in temperature in the pulp chamber in all groups. For all resin materials used, it was observed that the temperature values arising during the polymerization via used light sources did not exceed 5.5°C, which is the critical value for pulp.