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In situ transformation of glass-ionomer into an enamel-like material
Raimond N B Van Duinen1, Carel L Davidson, Anton J De Gee
1Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands. dental.materials@acta.nl
Purpose:
To assess the nature of clinically detectable alterations in glass-ionomer after long-term clinical service.
Methods:
In addition to clinical macro pictures, SEM was carried out on replicas and on two sectioned primary molars SEM-EDAX analysis was performed to determine chemical transformation in the glass-ionomer. Also with SEM-EDAX, the composition was determined of a partially removed half-year old sealant.
Results:
The clinically observed altered optical aspect and increased hardness could be related with surface structure changes as identified by SEM. The changed glass-ionomer showed a continuous integration with the adjacent enamel. The SEM-EDAX analysis revealed an increase of calcium and phosphorus in the surface layer, tentatively suggesting a sort of additional "mineralization" of the material. This phenomenon was only observed for restorations that had minimally 2-3 years in vivo dwell time.