Shrinkage in composites: An enigma

In recent years, increased demand for perfectly aesthetic restoration coupled with improved performance of composite resin made clinicians to select composite resins over amalgam restoration. Patients prefer composite restoration not only for restoring anteriors but also to replace their unaesthetic amalgam restoration of their posteriors. The greatest limitation of composite resin as posterior restoration is its polymerization shrinkage leading to marginal leakage, tooth or restoration fracture, postoperative sensitivity, ultimately leading to the reduction of the long-term success of the restoration. There are several factors associated with the polymerization process that have its impact on the integrity of the tooth restoration complex. So the astute clinician should have thorough knowledge regarding the mechanism involved in polymerization shrinkage and the techniques of overcoming it. The objective of this article was to make the clinician understand the factors and the problems related to the polymerization shrinkage with the methods to overcome the same for the clinical longevity of the restoration.