2022 Volume 65 Issue 5 Pages 279-285
Purpose: Excess cement around prosthetic appliances must be removed thoroughly because it can cause periodontitis. However, it is sometimes difficult to confirm removal by visual or palpatory examination under the adjacent gingival margin, and residual cement is occasionally encountered in clinical practice. Therefore, we studied the radiopaque properties of cement for use in the diagnosis of residual cement in clinical practice.
Materials and Methods: First, ten types of cement were cured in small pieces of 0.2 mm and 0.8 mm thick, and radiographs were taken to compare whether the radiographic appearance of the cements differed depending on the type and thickness of the cement. Next, three types of cement were cured as 0.5 mm pieces and radiographed with three sets of X-ray equipment and imaging plates (IPs) to compare whether differences in the radiographic appearance of the cement were caused by differences in the X-ray equipment. X-ray images obtained from these experiments were measured at NIH Image J. The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc test. The significance level was set at p<0.05. The results are reported as mean±SD.
Results: Different types and thicknesses of cement and different imaging conditions produced different radiopaque images. Under the same imaging conditions, GC. Freegenol Temporary Pack was more opaque for 0.2 mm cement thickness, and Hy-bond Temporary Cement Soft was more opaque for 0.8 mm cement thickness. When compared under different imaging conditions, the highest opacity was observed for Hy-bond Temporary Cement Hard when the IP plate was imaged with the size 2 standard type of imaging plate using the SEARCHER 70 X-ray system and developed with the VISTA SCAN.
Conclusion: Dental cements, especially luting cements that may remain in place for a long time, are difficult to detect because of their low radiopaque quality. However, it has been suggested that clinically residual fine surplus cements can be detected by combining an appropriate radiographic system.
