GLASS-IONOMER CEMENTS AS ADHESIVES .1. FUNDAMENTAL-ASPECTS AND THEIR CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The literature on the clinical use of glass-ionomer cements is reviewed, and this shows that these materials are successful partly because of the good adhesion they exhibit towards a variety of substrates encountered in dentistry. The reasons for this good adhesion are identified as the good initial wetting of the surfaces met in clinical dentistry, the development of strong chemical bonding with the surface over time and the good mechanical properties of the cements themselves, which make them resistant to cohesive failure. In this review these features are described in detail and related to established mechanisms of adhesion from the wider field of adhesives technology.