EVALUATION OF A DENTIN BARRIER TEST BY CYTOTOXICITY TESTING OF VARIOUS DENTAL CEMENTS

In this study, cell reaction after exposure to several dental cements was determined using a dentin barrier test device. The reaction of mou se fibroblasts grown on the ''pulpal'' side of a bovine dentin disk wa s determined after exposure to dental cements applied on the ''cavity' ' side of the disk. For pretreatment, dentin disks (500-mu m-thick) we re etched on one side and either sterilized by autoclaving or disinfec ted with ethanol. It was found for both pretreatment groups that zinc phosphate cement was less toxic than the conventional glass ionomer ce ments. A light-cured glass ionomer cement and zinc oxide-eugenol were the most toxic materials tested. Disinfecting the dentin slices instea d of autoclaving reduced the toxicity of the phosphate cement and the glass ionomer cements tendentiously. Because the strong cytotoxic reac tion evoked by zinc oxide-eugenol and by the glass ionomer cements is in contrast to in vivo findings, further improvements of the dentin ba rrier test device will be necessary.