Dental restorative material

A dental restorative composition, comprising:

• a polymerizable resin;
• a substantially translucent structural filler having a refractive index substantially similar to that of the polymerizable resin, wherein the structural filler comprises:
• a coarse particle fraction having an essentially monomodal distribution with a first mean particle size greater than about 3 μm and a D(10)≧1 μm, and a fine particle fraction having an essentially monomodal distribution with a second mean particle size greater than 0.1 μm and less than about 1 μm and a D(90)≦0.9 μm,
• wherein a relative ratio of the coarse particle fraction to the fine particle fraction is in the range from about 12:1 to about 2:1 by volume;
• a nanofiller having a mean particle size less than 100 nm, wherein the ratio of the structural filler to the nanofiller is in the range of about 20:1 to about 10:1 by volume;
• first and second rheology-modifying additives in an amount of about 0.1 to about 5 wt. %, wherein the first rheology-modifying additive comprises an inorganic rheology modifier and the second rheology-modifying additive comprises an organic rheology modifier, and
• wherein the viscosity is paste-like and the Loss Tangent is <1 in an undisturbed state, and wherein the composition undergoes shear-thinning to reduce the viscosity to liquid-like and the Loss Tangent is >1 in a disturbed state in which the composition is subjected to sonic and/or ultrasonic vibration.

A dental restorative composition, comprising:

• a polymerizable resin;
• a substantially translucent structural filler having a refractive index substantially similar to that of the polymerizable resin, wherein the structural filler consists of:
• a coarse particle fraction having a first mean particle size greater than 3 μm, and
• a fine particle fraction having a second mean particle size greater than 0.1 μm and smaller than the first mean particle size of the coarse particle fraction, wherein a D(90) of the fine particle fraction is less than a D(10) of the course particle fraction,
• wherein a relative ratio of the coarse particle fraction to the fine particle fraction is in the range from about 12:1 to about 2:1 by volume, and the particle size distributions of each of the coarse and fine particle fractions are essentially monomodal;
• a nanofiller having a mean particle size less than 100 nm;
• at least one inorganic rheology-modifying additive;
• and
• at least one organic rheology-modifying additive,
• wherein the composition has a Loss Tangent <1 in an undisturbed state and a Loss Tangent >1 in a disturbed state in which sonic or ultrasonic vibration is applied.