Evaluation of polymerization shrinkage and hydroscopic expansion of fiber-reinforced biocomposites using optical fiber Bragg grating sensors.

Objectives: Polymerization shrinkage of dental composite materials is recognized as one of the main reasons for the development of marginal leakage between a tooth and filling material. In addition, hydroscopic expansion due to water sorption is known to cause instability in dental materials. Several methods have been proposed to quantify the polymerization shrinkage and hydroscopic expansion.