This study assessed the nature of the adhesion in repaired glass-ionomer restorative materials. Two chemically different glass-ionomer cements, Ketac Fil and Chemfil II Cap, and three different methods of conditioning the surface for repair were employed. Specimens of each material were prepared and the cut surfaces were then treated with either 35% phosphoric acid, 35% polyacrylic acid or a combination of phosphoric acid followed by polyacrylic acid. Freshly mixed material was injected against these treated surfaces and allowed to set under simulated intraoral conditions. The specimens were tested to failure in flexion after seven days storage. Assessment of the fractured surfaces was then carried out using the scanning electron microscope. The results showed the occurrence of both adhesive and cohesive failure.
The effect of temperature change on the working and setting time of a glass ionomer luting cement and a resin luting cement was measured using the oscillating rheometer. The time taken for each cement to set was calculated from the chart recordings. It was observed that as the temperature increased, the working and setting time of both materials decreased. However, the reduction was much more marked for the dual curing resin cement.
Raman spectroscopy was applied to nail clippings from 633 postmenopausal British and Irish women, from six clinical sites, of whom 42% had experienced a fragility fracture. The objective was to build a prediction algorithm for fracture using data from four sites (known as the calibration set) and test its performance using data from the other two sites (known as the validation set). Results from the validation set showed that a novel algorithm, combining spectroscopy data with clinical data, provided area under the curve (AUC) of 74% compared to an AUC of 60% from a reduced QFracture score (a clinically accepted risk calculator) and 61% from the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry T-score, which is in current use for the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Raman spectroscopy should be investigated further as a noninvasive tool for the early detection of enhanced risk of fragility fracture.