[Restoration of cervical lesions with glass ionomer cements]

Cervical lesions and their proper treatment still represent a considerable professional problem. The incidence of these lesions increases with aging of the population. The lesions have to be treated because of esthetic reasons, hypersensitivity to stimuli, and possible further loss of dental substance. Most of the restorative materials used to date have failed to fulfill both functional and esthetic requirements. In this study, a novel approach to the treatment of these lesions using type II glass ionomer cement, with an additional possibility of the application of the final composite layer to attain the maximal esthetic effect, was investigated. This filling was found to have great advantages over both classical fillings and the composite materials alone, because it chemically binds to dentin, exerts a marked caries-protective effect through a continuous release of fluor ions, and provides the best esthetic effect in combination with composite materials (when necessary).