A new laboratory polymerizing apparatus equipped with halogen and metal halide light sources.

We developed a new laboratory polymerizing unit (Twinkle MIII: M3) equipped with different light sources (a metal halide and two halogen lamps) that could illuminate independently. This study introduced the structure of the curing unit and examined the curing depth of a representative indirect composite (Artglass). The composite material was cured with the following modes: 1) M3 - halogen only; 2) M3 - metal halide only; 3) M3 - both halogen and metal halide (HM); 4) conventional xenon; and 5) preliminary halogen. The results obtained from analysis of variances and post-hoc tests revealed that curing depth was affected significantly (p < 0.05) by both exposure mode and time, and that HM mode exhibited the most favorable curing performance (p < 0.05) among the curing units and polymerization modes. In conclusion, the M3 unit was found to be well suited to polymerizing the composite material tested.