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.