Abstract
It was demonstrated in the previous report that the consistency, setting time, film thickness and compressive strength of the luting cements were significantly changed by the variation of mixing time and P/L ratio within the dispensational errors. In this report, the questionnaire on the aspects of usage of the cements in private dental offices was performed to 47 practicioners in our study circle in order to analyze and improve the storage and manipulation of luting cements in practice. The reply to the questionnaire came to hand from 34 dentists out of 47 (72.3%), the glassionomer cements are most widely used (73.5% of offices) and the adhesive resin cements are the next (70.6%). The choice of the type and/or product of the material is mainly based on a "adhensiveness" (97.1%), "little or no irritation to pulp" (70.6%) and "high strength" (52.9%). Mixing of the cements follows the recommendation of the manufacturer in most offices. Although some offices pay careful attention to the storage condition, the temperature of the mixing instruments is little controlled. The cement powder and liquid are usually dispensed just before mixing in many offices. However, the dispensed materials are sometimes unintentionally left on the mixing pad for less than 5 minutes for certain reasons with other works, or at most 10 minutes during the busiest time.
