Comparative study of digital radiopacity of dental cements

Radiopacity is a necessary property for luting cements. The aim of this study was to investigate the radiopacity of some luting dental cements used in prosthetic dentistry. Five disclike samples of each material (6 x 1mm) were prepared from panavia F2.0 (Pa), Chioce2 (Ch.2), Glass ionomer GC (GI GC), zinc phosphate Hoffmann’s (ZP hof), zinc polycarboxylate Hoffmann’s (ZPC hof), Glass ionomer ariadent (GI ari), zinc phosphate ariadent(ZP ari) and zinc polycarboxylate ariadent (ZPC ari). The radiopacity of each material along with aluminium step wedge were measured from radiographic images using a digital radiography. The average measured radiopacities from five areas were taken into account, which were measured by Digora for windows (DFW) software using a PSP digital sensor. There was a significant difference between radiopacity value of all luting materials (p≤0.001). ZP ari had the highest radiopacity with 7.7±0.55 mm aluminium. The Glass ionomer ariadent ari dent showed the lowest radiopacity value with 0.82±0.31 mm aluminium. All dental cements showed radiopacity values equivalent to or greater than the ISO 4049:2000(E) standard except ariadent Glass ionomer; and this could be considered suitable for use in restoration cementation.