Kits and methods for coating a dental filling material to increase wear resistance and durability

A method for increasing wear and abrasion resistance of a dental filling material, comprising:

• applying a coating material to at least a portion of a surface of a cured dental filling material, the dental filling material being substantially free of organically modified inorganic particles, and wherein the coating material comprises,
• a polymerizable resin;
• and
• a plurality of inorganic particles that are organically modified to have polymerizable functional groups thereon, the organically modified inorganic particles having a size less than about 1 micron in diameter;
• and
• curing the coating material such that the polymerizable resin and the functional groups on the organically modified inorganic particles co-polymerize or cross-link to form a cured coating layer on the dental filling material, the cured coating layer having a maximum thickness of less than about 30 microns and the surface of the cured coating layer results in a maximum abrasion loss of less than about 15% as measured by a Taber Abrasion Test according to ASTM standard D-1044.

A kit for increasing the wear resistance of a dental filling material, comprising:

• a curable dental filling material suitable for placement onto and bonding to a tooth;
• and
• a protective coating material for placement on a surface of the curable dental filling material after it has been placed onto and bonded to a tooth, the coating material comprising,
• a polymerizable resin;
• a plurality of inorganic particles that are organically modified to have polymerizable functional groups thereon, the organically modified inorganic particles having a size less than about 1 micron in diameter;
• and
• wherein the polymerizable resin and the polymerizable functional groups co-polymerize or cross-link upon curing of the protective coating material.