Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiopacity of five conventional and resin-modified linning glass ionomer cements and to compare them to those of enamel and dentin structure. Methods: In the measurement of the radiopacity, specimens 5 mm in diameter and 0.5 mm in thickness were fabricated from the six different GIC (n = 5 each) for a total of 30 specimens. Human molars were longitudinally sectioned into slices to include both enamel and dentin, and then ground to final thickness of 0.5 mm. Radiographs of the specimens were taken together with tooth slice and aluminum step wedge at 70 kV and 8 mA, in standard conditions. The film-target distance used was 40 cm and the exposure time, 0.4 second. All radiographs were processed and digitalized by a scanner. The images were analyzed by conversion of optical density in gray values using Adobe Photoshop 7.0. All results were expressed in aluminum millimeters (mmAl) and analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Tukey test (α = 0.05). Results: The radiopacity values between GIC and dental structure are presented in the following table:
Groups (N=5) | Mean (±SD) |
Enamel A | 2.74 (± 1.63) |
Dentin B | 1.73 (± 1.80) |
Vitrebond (3M ESPE) B | 1.79 (± 2.99) |
Fuji II LC Linning (GC) B | 1.74 (± 3.17) |
Vidrion F (SSWhite) C | 1.02 (± 0.58) |
Magic Glass F (Vigodent) B | 1.80 (± 1.10) |
Ionomaster F (Wilcos) C | 0.89 (± 0.67) |
Ketac Molar (3M ESPE) B | 1.56 (± 1.60) |
Groups identified with the same superscript letters are not significantly different.
Conclusion: All linning glass ionomer cements had radiopacity values below that of enamel. Just Vidrion F and Ionomaster F showed less radiopacity compared to dentin.