Influence of fiber-post translucency on the degree of conversion of a dual-cured resin cement.

This study evaluated the degree of conversion of one dual-cured resin cement when used to lute fiber posts with different translucencies. To measure the degree of conversion, polyvinylsiloxane molds were prepared to simulate root canals. The posts, Aestheti-Post or Light-Post, were cemented in these molds and, after photoactivation, were removed to obtain the resin cement spectrum by FT-Raman spectroscopy. Spectra were acquired at three depths: superficial, medium, and deep. For Light-Post, the resin cement at deep depth showed the lowest degree of conversion and no significant difference in degree of conversion was found between the other depths. For Aestheti-Post, the superficial depth presented a higher degree of conversion values than those in the medium and deep depths, which were not significantly different from each other. Light-Post exhibited a higher degree of conversion than that of Aestheti-Post only at medium depth. Light-Post effectiveness regarding the degree of conversion is dependent on the depth.