Long-Term Assessment of Contemporary Ion-Releasing Restorative Dental Materials

The objective was to evaluate new commercially available ion-releasing restorative materials and compare them to established anti-cariogenic materials. Four materials were tested: alkasite Cention (Ivoclar Vivadent) in self-cure or light-cure mode, giomer Beautifil II (Shofu), conventional glass-ionomer Fuji IX (GC), and resin composite Tetric EvoCeram (Ivoclar Vivadent) as a control. Flexural strength, flexural modulus, and Weibull modulus were measured one day, three months, and after three months with accelerated aging in ethanol. Water sorption and solubility were evaluated for up to one year. Degree of conversion was measured during 120 min for self-cured and light-cured Cention. In this study, Beautifil II was the ion-releasing material with the highest flexural strength and modulus and with the best resistance to aging. Alkasite Cention showed superior mechanical properties to Fuji IX. Weibull analysis showed that the glass-ionomer had the least reliable distribution of mechanical properties with the highest water sorption. The solubility of self-cured alkasite exceeded the permissible values according to ISO 4049. Degree of conversion of light-cured Cention was higher than in self-cure mode. The use of alkasite Cention is recommended only in the light-cure mode.