Vitremer cement for Class I restoration of permanent teeth

Since their introduction in 1992, light-hardened glass ionomer resin cements have shown great versatility for use in nonstressbearing restorations. On-command hardening, adhesive bonding, fluoride release, biocompatibility, and favorable thermal expansion and contraction properties are significant advantages to this class of materials. One such cement has shown excellent durability for more than 2 years, when used as a Class I restorative material for permanent posterior teeth. The objective of this article is to familiarize the reader with this relatively new cement and to describe a procedure for placement of intracoronal light-hardened glass ionomer resin restorations. Four cases are used to illustrate the clinical procedure.