Does Light Curing Affect the Water Sorption and WaterSolubility Properties of Alkasite and Bulk-Fill Glass HybridMaterials?

The purpose of this research was to determine and compare the impact of light curing on the water sorption and solubility properties of alkasite and bulk-fill glass hybrid materials.An alkasite self-adhesive bulk-fill material (Cention R N, Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Schaan, Liechtenstein; CEN) and a bulk-fill glass material hybrid (EQUIA Forte HT, GC Corp., Tokyo, Japan; EFT) were utilized.Each material was prepared in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.Specimens were placed in disk-shaped molds and divided into two subgroups: light-cured (LC) and non-light-cured (NLC) (n = 5).Sorption and solubility tests were performed in accordance with ISO 4049 standards.Statistical analysis was conducted using one-way ANOVA, Tamhane's T2 post hoc, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and independent samples t-tests (p < 0.05).The highest water sorption was observed in Group EFT (63.022 6.772 g/mm 3 ), while the lowest was observed in Group CEN (4.447 0.412 g/mm 3 ).No significant differences were detected among Groups CEN and CEN LC and Groups EFT and EFT LC (p > 0.05).Regarding water solubility, Group EFT LC (-99.534 2.008 g/mm 3 ) exhibited the lowest values, while Group CEN (-2.728 0.499 g/mm 3 ) demonstrated the highest values.No significant difference was found between Group CEN and CEN LC (p > 0.05), while a statistically significant difference was found between Group EFT and Group EFT LC (p < 0.05).A statistically significant difference was identified between Group CEN and Group EFT and between Group CEN LC and Group EFT LC in terms of both water sorption and solubility values (p < 0.05).The correlation analysis found no significant relationship between the sorption and solubility values for the materials examined (p > 0.05).Regarding water sorption, the self-adhesive bulk-fill material was superior to the bulk-fill glass hybrid material, whether light-cured or not.For water solubility, the bulk-fill glass hybrid material was superior to the self-adhesive bulk-fill material, whether lightcured or not.The bulk-fill glass hybrid material exhibited reduced resistance to water sorption but a positive characteristic for water solubility.This short-term in vitro study provides a foundation for the evaluation of early-stage water-material interaction, which is essential for comprehending the behaviour of the material.