Dental Cements: Reactor Response

¹ Department of Dental Materials, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202

This paper is in response to Dr. Dennis Smith's paper, which dealt with the current status of dental cements and recommendations with respect to future research needs. Interest in cements and research in this area have mushroomed with the development of polycarboxylate and glass-ionomer cements. Despite this increased research, there still exist significant voids, which can only be elucidated by further concerted research efforts, both laboratory and clinical.

With newer systems — e. g., the polycarboxylate and glass-ionomer cements — properties such as modulus of elasticity, which were of little concern with the phosphate cements, have now assumed clinical relevance. Also, the need persists to develop an in vitro test that reflects the relative resistance of cements to disintegration in the oral cavity.

Finally, greater efforts should be expended by the research community to disseminate new findings to the dental practitioner in order that the patient population may benefit from the latest advances in materials.