Objectives: To evaluate if the incorporation of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particles to conventional glass ionomer cement (Ketac Molar EasyMix) improves the material properties, as measured by Vickers hardness (HV), compressive strength, roughness and porosity.
Methods: For all experiments four groups (n=10) were used, with one for control (without addition of nano-particles), and three in the respective concentrations of TiO2:, 1%, 2%, 5% (w/w). All specimens were stored in distilled water at 98°F for 24 h. The VH was measured using a digital micro-hardness (Micromet 2100), compressive strength using a universal testing machine (EMIC - DL 2000), the roughness using a profilometer (Mitutoyo SJ - 400). Representative images were made using scanning electron microscopy (SM-300) and analyzed using Image J-software. The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test, with the level of significance set at of 5%.
Results: There were statistically significant differences for the experiments of HV (p ≤ 0.001) and the roughness (p = 0.010). The addition of 1% and 2% TiO2 deteriorated hardness of the material, while 5% improved, similar to the control group. The addition of 2% and 5% of TiO2 improved surface roughness of the GIC.
Conclusion: The addition of 5% (w/w) TiO2 nano-particles to conventional glass ionomer cement provides promising results, shown by the improvement of Vickers hardness and surface roughness of this restorative material. That improvement will suggests that Ketac Molar EasyMix with this nano-particle addition could show longer restoration life.