RESUMO
The use of post-curing ovens to post-cure light-cured resin composite restorations leads to a decrease in the negative effects of polymerization shrinkage and an increase in the hardness and wear resistance of the material. The aim of this study was to compare the Vickers Hardness (VH) of four different light-cure resin composite materials. In one group, samples of the four materials, Z100, Tetric Ceram, F2000 and Heliomolar were light-cured only, and in the other group a similar set of samples were light-cured and also post-cured in a DI 500 post-curing oven. VH vests were then carried out on the samples. All samples in the post-cured group had higher VH values (p = 0.000) than the corresponding samples in the light-cured only group. Z100 and F2000 had, in both groups, significantly higher VH values (p = 0.000) than Tetric Ceram and Heliomolar.
