Objectives: Recently a reliable method for the determination of polymerization shrinkage has been reviewed and proven by round-robin testing. The test method - so called Archimedes method - has been described in detail and published as German Dental Standard DIN 13907:2005. The purpose of this study was to characterize various methacrylate based materials for particular dental indications by their volumetric shrinkage values.

Methods: Ten restorative composites, three provisional resins (p), and three flowable composites (f) were tested according to the Archimedes method (n=6). All data were analyzed by One Way ANOVA/LSD tests (p<0.05), means with the same letters are statistically the same. Results:

Conclusions: All direct restorative materials revealed smaller volumetric shrinkage values in comparison to flowable composites and provisional resins. PCR100-exp showed significantly the lowest shrinkage value of all composites tested. Each group of materials for a particular indication was significantly different from the other groups, obviously in relation to the amount of inorganic filler. The Archimedes method proved to be a precise and reliable testing method, showing low standard deviation values.