STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF VISIBLE-LIGHT-CURED RESIN-MODIFIED GLASS-IONOMER CEMENTS

A new generation of glass ionomers containing polymerizable methacryla te monomers and/or prepolymers are now available for use as direct est hetic restorative materials. Proper clinical application of these new resin-modified glass requires an understanding their and limitations. The purpose this investigation was to compare the compressive and diam etral tensile strength at 1 hour, 24 hours, and 7 days of three visibl e-light-cured glass-ionomer cements, a polyacid-modified composite res in, and a composite resin core build-up material under both light-cure and dark-cure conditions. Statistical analysis indicated significant differences between several of the cements tested for both compressive and diametral tensile strengths at all three testing times (P > 0.05) . Prosthodent composite resin and Vitremer tricure visible-light-cured glass-ionomer cement are significantly greater in both compressive an d diametral tensile strength than any of the other materials tested af ter 7 days.