Article information
Year 2016 Volume 66 Issue 3 Page 149-170
Title:
Dentin Conditioning Agents for Glass-Ionomer Cement
Keyword(s):
Dentin conditioning agent, Glass-ionomer cement, Polyacrylic acid
Abstract:
The aim of this article was to review the properties of the dentin conditioning agents for glass-ionomer cement, for example, clean the tooth surface, modify or remove the smear layer, demineralize the tooth surface, increase the surface area and increase mechanical and/or chemical bond strength between the tooth surface and glass-ionomer cement. For many years, various tooth surface treatment agents have been available. These include citric acid, demineralizing solution, polyacrylic acid, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), phosphoric acid and many others. Different study designs have been tested for these tooth surface treatment agents; for example, rinsing or not rinsing the agent with water after application or testing the effect of different concentrations of the agent. The most popular and widely used dentin conditioning agent for glass-ionomer cements is 10–30 % polyacrylic acid because of its similar composition to the liquid mixture of the glassionomer cement. Polyacrylic acid is a weak acid with high molecular weight that is capable of cleaning the tooth surface, modifying the smear layer, without inducing dentinal tubule opening when the proper concentration and application time is used, roughening the tooth surface and promoting the formation of chemical bond between hydroxyapatite and glass-ionomer cement. Nowadays, suppliers tend to sell their dentin conditioning products along with the glass-ionomer cements. Each of which has different chemical composition and different treatment method. Therefore, it is best to strictly follow the manufacturer’s instruction for the best result.