Figure 5.

Flexural strength of composites. Specimens were tested either without immersion, or with immersion in water at 37°C for 1 day or 56 days. The ion-releasing nanocomposite matched the strengths of a commercial non-releasing hybrid composite. Both composites had strengths about two-fold that of a resin-modified glass ionomer. The box at the left axis indicates the reported strengths of previous Ca-PO₄ composites before immersion. The filled box at the right axis indicates reported strengths of previous Ca-PO₄ composites after immersion. The unfilled box at the right axis indicates strengths for non-releasing, stress-bearing composites (Xu et al., 2008b).