The aim of this study was to detect and quantify the main residual monomers released from composites, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Discs were made with dental composites (Herculite XRV, Tetric Ceram and Filtek Z250) and immersed in deionized water at 37ºC for 28 days, with water changes in 1, 7, 14 and 21 days. The mean concentration of residual monomers were subject to the Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.05). Tetric Ceram exhibited significantly higher concentrations of leached monomers. Bis-GMA was the monomer released in lower concentrations for all the materials. There was no statistical difference between the amounts of TEGDMA and UDMA. Most of the monomers demonstrated maximal concentration at the 7-day period. The HPLC analysis identified Bis-GMA, TEGDMA and UDMA in detectable quantities for all the tested composites.
Dental composites; monomers; HPLC; TEGDMA; Bis-GMA; UDMA
