Cure monitoring systems and methods

A system for monitoring a degree of curing of a polymerizable material, the system comprising:

• a monitoring light source that emits visible monitoring light at one or more wavelengths in a range from 400 nm to 800 nm, the monitoring light having a wavelength of maximum emission (λmax-mon) that does not effectively induce polymerization of the polymerizable material;
• a visible light detector configured to detect the monitoring light at one or more wavelengths in a range from 400 nm to 800 nm after the monitoring light is diffusely reflected by the polymerizable material;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the visible light detector, wherein the controller is configured to determine when the polymerizable material reaches a selected degree of curing based at least in part on a selected rate of change in intensity of the diffusely reflected monitoring light detected by the visible light detector.