GLASS-IONOMER CEMENTS AS ADHESIVES .2. TESTING OF ADHESIVE JOINTS

Although glass-ionomer cements are generally agreed to show very good adhesion to a variety of substrates encountered in clinical dentistry, laboratory testing of this property has not proved to be straightforw ard. In the current paper we review the published literature describin g the testing of glass-ionomers as adhesives. We highlight the fact th at these materials are employed under conditions of very high humidity and high moisture content that would impair the long-term bond durabi lity of conventional adhesives. We conclude that further work is neces sary to improve the understanding of the basic mechanism of adhesion i n glass-ionomers and to extend the methods by which adhesion may be me asured to include more-complex structures of greater clinical relevanc e.