Materials for restoration of primary teeth: 2. Glass ionomer derivatives and compomers

A wide variety of materials have been used for the restoration of primary teeth. Resin-modified glass ionomers and the more recently introduced viscous glass ionomers have been developed from conventional glass ionomer materials in an attempt to overcome the suboptimal properties of conventional glass ionomers. These materials would appear to have the necessary physical characteristics for restorations in load-bearing situations in primary teeth, as have the resin-based compomer materials, which now have well documented success rates in a number of studies. The first of these two articles described 'traditional' restorative materials, including amalgam and conventional glass ionomer, for the restoration of primary teeth. This paper describes materials derived from traditional glass ionomers in an attempt to overcome the suboptimal properties of conventional glass ionomers and resin-based materials such as compomer.