The Influence of Aging in Solvents on Dental Cements Hardness and Diametral Tensile Strength.

Prosthetic materials must exhibit adequate resistance to the oral environment. The aim of this paper was to study the resistance of selected cements used for cementing restorations (Breeze-composite, Adhesor Carbofine-zinc-polycarboxylate and IHDENT-Giz type II-glass-ionomer) against ethanol, soda and green tea solutions. The highest values of hardness and DTS (diametral tensile strength) were obtained by composite cement (HV = 15-31, DTS = 34-45 MPa). Ethanol solution had the greatest impact on the hardness value of composite cement, and soda solution on zinc-polycarboxylate cement. No significant differences were noted in the DTS values of composite cements after immersion in solvents; however, the DTS value of zinc-polycarboxylate cement increased after prolonged immersion time in ethanol and the DTS of glass-ionomer cement (IHDENT Giz type II) clearly decreased after submersion in soda solutions. Variation in pH across the range of 6 (tea) to 9 (soda solution) had a low impact on the properties of dental cements. Extended exposure to solvents appears to worsen the properties of cements.