Clinical studies of glass ionomer cements: Part I – A twelve month clinical study comparing Zinc Phosphate Cement to Glass Ionomer

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.