Shear bond strengths of resin-modified glass-ionomer restorative materials

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength of resin-modified glass-ionomer restorative materials to dentin. The materials tested were Fuji II LC, Geristore, Photac-Fil, VariGlass VLC, and Vitremer. Ketac-Fil, a conventional glass ionomer, was used as the control. The occlusal surfaces of 60 extracted molars were ground flat in dentin using 600-grit silicon carbide abrasive paper. Dentin surfaces were treated according to manufacturers' instructions, and restorative materials were applied using gelatin capsule matrices. Shear bond strengths were determined after the specimens were thermocycled 500 times. Mean bond strengths of the resin-modified glass ionomers ranged from 1.4 MPa (Photac-Fil) to 12.3 MPa (Fuji II LC). Except for Photac-Fil, all values were significantly higher than the control. Pairwise comparisons between the means for Fuji II LC and Vitremer, Vitremer and Geristore, and Geristore and VariGlass were not significantly different.