Zinc phosphate has long been the standard luting agent for the cementation of orthodontic bands. There has been recent interest in the use of glass ionomer cements for this purpose.
A clinical trial has been conducted on 181 patients with full fixed appliances, to compare the relative efficacy of a zinc phosphate cement compared to a glass ionomer cement as an orthodontic luting agent.
It was found that 8.8% of zinc phosphate cemented bands became loose in 12 months compared to 0.6% of bands cemented with glass ionomer. Furthermore, 53% of all failures, which were all zinc phosphate, occurred during the first three months.