Study on Dental Cement : Part 3.The Cored Structure of Three Restorative Glass Polyalkenoate Cements Observed by Using Cryo-SEM and Image Analyzer

Abstract

The polished surfaces of three kinds of set restorative glass polyalkenoate cements were observed using a cryo-SEM at a specimen temperature of-150℃ to prevent damage of the cement specimens and the specimens were analyzed by EDX. Furthermore, the SEM composition images of the polished cement surface were transferred to an image analyzer to obtain the core/matrix area ratio of the set cements.The polished surface of the set cement could be clearly observed by using a cryo-SEM without damaging the cement specimens. The core/matrix area ratios of the Fuji Ionomer Type II-F, HY Bond Glas Ionomer-F, and Ketac-Fil cements obtained by the image analysis were approximately 3:7, 3.6:6.4, and 4.3:5.7, respectively. The elements detected in the Fuji Ionomer Type II-F and Ketac-Fil cements were Al, Si and Ca, and those detected in the HY Bond Glas Ionomer-F were Al, Si, Sr, and Ca.