The use of photopolymerizable composites for dental restorations has become an increasingly important area for research. These materials have the potential to replace metal amalgam restorations, which have possible health effects and cause mechanical difficulties, in addition to being esthetically unappealing. Current, these polymeric materials have poor mechanical properties, shrinkage problems resulting in tooth stresses, etc. As result of these problems, polymeric restorations can have a shortened durability and cause additional problems in the patient's tooth. The general area of photopolymerization has recently shown using novel acrylate monomers yields significant gains over typical restoration composites. As acrylates can have toxic effects in patients, this work will focus on applying the hypotheses developed from the acrylate work to novel methacrylate monomers, which will have significantly fewer health effects. The major goal of this work will be in synthesizing photopolymerizable monomers, such that the polymerization will proceed more rapidly to a higher conversion. Additionally, the resulting polymeric materials will have better properties for application in dental restorations, such as lower volume shrinkage and higher toughness. ? ? ?
