Cure Efficiency and Biocompatibility of an Iron-Based Coordination Complex as a Photoinitiator for Dental 3D-Printed Resins

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cure efficiency and biocompatibility of a novel iron-based coordination complex used as a photoinitiator in comparison to conventional ethyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phenylphosphinate (TPO-L) and camphorquinone (CQ) as photoinitiators in dental 3D-printed resins. Materials and Methods: Experimental dental resin formulations were prepared by blending 1:1 ratio of Bis-GMA and TEGDMA, to which 0.2 wt% of either the iron-based coordination complex or CQ were added, along with 0.2 wt% EDAB and 0.4 wt% IOD, and the TPO-L. The degree of conversion (DC) was measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Biocompatibility was assessed by evaluating the viability of L929 fibroblast-like cells using the MTT assay 24 h post-exposure. Statistical analyses included a two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test for post hoc comparisons, with significance at p < 0.05. Results: The degree of conversion for the iron-based coordination complex (84.54% ± 1.69%) was significantly higher than that for the TPO-L (78.77% ± 1.25%) and CQ-based resins (73.21% ± 0.47%) (p < 0.001). The iron-based coordination complex and TPO-L resins exhibited significantly higher conversion than CQ-based resins (p < 0.001). Regarding biocompatibility, the cell viability test revealed that the iron-based coordination complex demonstrated the highest cell viability at 86.5% ± 10.24%, followed by TPO-L with 80.03% ± 11.07%. CQ showed the lowest cell viability of 51.29% ± 8.44% (p < 0.05). Tukey’s test confirmed significant differences between CQ and other photointiators (p < 0.05), while no significant difference was found between TPO-L and the iron-based coordination complex. Conclusions: This study introduces a novel iron-based coordination complex photoinitiator that demonstrates enhanced cure efficiency and comparable biocompatibility to TPO-L, while significantly reducing the cytotoxicity associated with CQ. Its longer absorption wavelength supports deeper layer curing, making it a promising alternative for dental 3D printing, particularly in bioactive scaffold applications requiring minimized cytotoxicity.