Innovative Product Development
Today, the latest techniques permit the manufacture of filler with a diameter of less than a micro-meter (10-100 nanometers). The individual particles on the surface must be coated in this process, since particles of this extremely small size clump to the larger aggregates (agglomeration), if they are not coated.
These agglomerates physically behave like micro-fillers. An increase in the filler content of a composite with micro-fillers always leads to an increase in the viscosity. The filler percentage thus cannot be increased at will - the material would be too hard to be processed.
Non-agglomerated nano-particles behave, on the contrary, rather like a liquid, so that the higher filler content is not accompanied by an increase in viscosity. Only in this way is it possible to make a composite with ca. 90% filler content. Grandio Flow, the flowable composite with a filler content of over 80%, would not be possible without the use of nanotechnology. By coating the surface of the nano-particles, they crosslink with the resin to a high degree during polymerisation; this increased crosslinking in combination with the high filler content is the prerequisite for the extraordinary physical properties of the nano-filled composite.
The term Ormocer is an abbreviation for Organically Modified Ceramics. The organic-inorganic hybrid polymers were developed by the Fraunhofer Institute and they exhibit interesting characteristics. In a research cooperation between VOCO and other organisations, including the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research and the Hannover Medical School, the advantages of this material class were also made usable for utilisation in dentistry.
Ormocer-based dental materials offer characteristic advantages in comparison to conventional composites. These are particularly:
- A limited about of shrinkage
- Very high biocompatibility
- Increased aesthetics
Ormocer technology is utilised in all of products in the Admira range.