This study evaluated the effects of a bleaching agent on the composition, mechanical properties, and surface topography of 6 conventional glass-ionomer cements (GICs) and one resin-modified GIC.

For 3 days, the specimens were subjected to three 20-minute applications of a 37% H₂O₂-based bleaching agent and evaluated for water uptake (WTK), weight loss (WL), compressive strength (CS), and Knoop hardness number (KHN). Changes in surface topography and chemical element distribution were also analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. For statistical evaluation, the Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon paired tests (α = 0.05) were used to evaluate WTK and WL. CS specimens were subjected to 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey post hoc test (α = 0.05), and KH was evaluated by one-way ANOVA, the Holm-Sidak post hoc test (α = 0.05), and the t-test for independent samples (α = 0.05).

The bleaching agent increased the WTK of Maxxion R, but did not affect the WL of any GICs. It had various effects on the CS, KHN, surface topography, and the chemical element distribution of the GICs.

The bleaching agent with 37% H₂O₂ affected the mechanical and surface properties of GICs. The extent of the changes seemed to be dependent on exposure time and cement composition.

The purpose of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) mixed with glass ionomer cement (GIC), and to compare it with that of MTA, GIC, IRM and SuperEBA.

Experimental groups were divided into 3 groups such as 1 : 1, 2 : 1, and 1 : 2 groups depending on the mixing ratios of MTA powder and GIC powder. Instead of distilled water, GIC liquid was mixed with the powder. This study was carried out using MG-63 cells derived from human osteosarcoma. They were incubated for 1 day on the surfaces of disc samples and examined by scanning electron microscopy. To evaluate the cytotoxicity of test materials quantitatively, XTT assay was used. The cells were exposed to the extracts and incubated. Cell viability was recorded by measuring the optical density of each test well in reference to controls.

The SEM revealed that elongated, dense, and almost confluent cells were observed in the cultures of MTA mixed with GIC, MTA and GIC. On the contrary, cells on the surface of IRM or SuperEBA were round in shape. In XTT assay, cell viability of MTA mixed with GIC group was similar to that of MTA or GIC at all time points. IRM and SuperEBA showed significantly lower cell viability than other groups at all time points (p < 0.05).

In this research MTA mixed with GIC showed similar cellular responses as MTA and GIC. It suggests that MTA mixed with GIC has good biocompatibility like MTA and GIC.

The purpose of this study was to determine the setting time, compressive strength, solubility, and pH of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) mixed with glass ionomer cement (GIC) and to compare these properties with those of MTA, GIC, IRM, and SuperEBA.

Setting time, compressive strength, and solubility were determined according to the ISO 9917 or 6876 method. The pH of the test materials was determined using a pH meter with specified electrode for solid specimen.

The setting time of MTA mixed with GIC was significantly shorter than that of MTA. Compressive strength of MTA mixed with GIC was significantly lower than that of other materials at all time points for 7 days. Solubility of 1 : 1 and 2 : 1 specimen from MTA mixed with GIC was significantly higher than that of other materials. Solubility of 1 : 2 specimen was similar to that of MTA. The pH of MTA mixed with GIC was 2-4 immediately after mixing and increased to 5-7 after 1 day.

The setting time of MTA mixed with GIC was improved compared with MTA. However, other properties such as compressive strength and pH proved to be inferior to those of MTA. To be clinically feasible, further investigation is necessary to find the proper mixing ratio in order to improve the drawbacks of MTA without impairing the pre-existing advantages and to assess the biocompatibility.