DT News - UK - Researchers decode physical complexities of glass ionomer cements

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 17 November 2015

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LONDON & ABERYSTWYTH, UK: While they have been improved over time, glass ionomer cements (GIC) are still lacking in toughness and other requisite properties to be considered the material of choice for permanent implants, for example. This could soon change, according to scientists from England and Wales, who have recently gained new insights into how the material sets inside the tooth in real time.

Using intense beams of neutral subatomic particles from the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s neutron and muon source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, the researchers looked at the surface between the hard glass particles and surrounding polymer as the strength of the cement develops. Instead of the material hardening continuously, they found what they termed “sweet points”, at which the material suddenly regains elasticity as it approaches the toughness of the tissue and then hardens indefinitely.

Understanding these sweet points could have implications for creating more durable and longer-lasting fillings in the future, as well as for other industries that use cement, such as construction, and for testing toughness in other materials, the scientists said.

“Dental fillings are really complex materials. Using neutrons we have discovered how mechanical toughness develops, element by element. This is fundamental physics in action for the general good,” explained Prof. Neville Greaves from the Department of Physics at Aberystwyth University in Wales, one of the institutions involved in the project.

“Our work opens up the possibility of tailoring the strength of non-mercury cements by homing in on the special setting points, which we call ‘sweet points’, to make environmentally-friendly dental fillings that not only last longer but could prevent further tooth decay,” co-author Dr Gregory Chass from Queen Mary University of London’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences added.

University of Manchester professor and Dental Materials Editor-in-Chief David Watts praised the findings as an “inspiring example of combined neutron scattering and THz spectroscopy methods in biomaterials science”.

He said that the insights are essential for improving the material’s performance for intra-dental restorations.

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