Influence of light curing and sample thickness on microhardness of a composite resin.

The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the influence of light-curing units and different sample thicknesses on the microhardness of a composite resin. Composite resin specimens were randomly prepared and assigned to nine experimental groups (n = 5): considering three light-curing units (conventional quartz tungsten halogen [QTH]: 550 mW/cm(2) - 20 s; high irradiance QTH: 1160 mW/cm(2) - 10 s; and light-emitting diode [LED]: 360 mW/cm(2) - 40 s) and three sample thicknesses (0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm).