Mechanism for erosion of glass-ionomer cements in an acidic buffer solution

In order to clarify the mechanism for erosion of glass-ionomer cements, we immersed two commercial luting cements in an acidic buffer solution under various conditions. The amounts of F, Al, Si, and Ca eluted from the cement were (1) in proportion to the square root of immersion time, (2) unrelated to shape or volume of the sample, (3) dependent on its surface area, and (4) not affected by shaking of the solution. It was concluded that the dissolution was controlled by the diffusion of those species in the cement matrix, which was influenced by the structure of the matrix and the concentration of H+ ion at the cement surface. The unreacted glass particles near the cement surface were dissolved by the long immersion, and many pores were left in the surface region.