THIS RESEARCH HAS A LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE TO FULLY DEVELOP A NEW DENTAL RESTORATIVE MATERIAL THAT WILL BE SUPERIOR TO NONMETALLIC MATERIALS NOW IN USE.

THIS RESEARCH HAS A LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE TO FULLY DEVELOP A NEW DENTAL RESTORATIVE MATERIAL THAT WILL BE SUPERIOR TO NONMETALLIC MATERIALS NOW IN USE. THEY ARE BASED UPON POLYMERIC RESINS THAT HAVE THE UNIQUE PROPERTY OF EXPANSION OR ZERO SHRINKAGE WHEN THEY ARE TRANSFORMED FROM THE LIQUID (UNCURED) TO THE SOLID (CURED) STATE. THE PHASE I FEASI- BILITY STUDY WILL PREPARE THE MONOMER IN SUFFICIENT QUANTITYTO MAKE AND STUDY PROTOTYPE DENTAL RESTORATIVE FORMULATIONS.PHASE I WILL DEMONSTRATE THAT THE FORMULATIONS CAN CURE AT BODY TEMPERATURE WITH ZERO SHRINKAGE OR EVEN SLIGHT EXPANSION. THIS WILL ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIALS FORCLINICAL TRIALS IN PHASE II. PRELIMINARY ACADEMIC STUDIES SHOW THAT THE MONOMER PROPOSED FOR THIS STUDY IS A PROMISINGCANDIDATE. OTHER APPLICATIONS FOR THIS TYPE OF FORMULATION ARE AS CEMENTS FOR BROKEN BONES AND FOR SEALING METAL HIP- BONE BALL AND SOCKET JOINTS IN PLACE.