Glass ceramic approach to controlling the properties of a glass-ionomer bone cement

Glass-ionomer dental cements have potential as bone cements in joint replacement surgery. However, commercially available glasses used in dental cements suffer from the loss of fluorine during the melting procedure and from phase separation of the glass upon quenching, giving rise to inter- and intra-batch variation. A model glass was examined in which minimal loss of fluorine is observed. This results in a glass whose composition is reproducible between batches. This glass will crystallize both above and below the glass transition temperature following heat treatments. Cements can be produced whose properties vary with the degree of crystallinity of the glass-ceramic. A commercial glass was also examined and was found to crystallize to an apatite phase.