Glass Ionomer cement fillings
Glass Ionomer cement is a filling material used in dentistry to restore functionality of teeth. These are the dental cement fillings mostly used for the people who are having tooth decay problems in front teeth, roots of the teeth or around the neck of the teeth. It is also used in inlay fillings as a cement. This glass ionomer filling is made of liquid polyarcylic acid and aluminosilicate powder or glass ionomer cement is a hardening mixture of organic acid and glass. This is mostly used for temporary restorations, crowns, liners etc. Glass ionomer fillings have many advantages and disadvantages.
Procedure for glass ionomer fillings
At first, the dentist removes the decay or cavities from your teeth and cleans it thoroughly. Now, the glass ionomer is placed in the teeth were there are cavities or decay. Later, it is shaped and smoothed over the teeth. This is how the fillings are done with glass ionomer cement. This fillings release fluoride over some period of time, which will help your teeth to prevent decay further.
Some of the advantages of this glass ionomer treatment or glass ionomer cement fillings are:
- This glass ionomer cement filling bonds with the tissues of the teeth chemically.
- This glass ionomer fillings look like natural teeth (in color). In other words, it matches the existing tooth color.
- It really benefits baby teeth and for the non-biting surface of the teeth.
- Glass ionomer fillings are affordable that is, more than amalgam fillings and less than gold fillings.
- In some treatments this glass ionomer doesn’t do any drilling to be done on teeth.
- As it releases fluoride, your teeth are further protected from the teeth decay.
- With this filling, you may prevent leakages.
But this is not used for adults because of a few drawbacks:
- They are weaker than the composite resins, therefore they can easily break and fracture.
- This filling may not completely match with your teeth color as composite fillings
- Time taken for the treatment may be longer sometimes.
- They can last only a few years up to 5 years or so.
- It doesn’t have much strength for bearing chewing.
These few disadvantages make this traditional glass ionomer cement fillings not much popular. As the technology is improving in every field, dentistry came up with advanced restoration procedures that may have more benefits for the patients as well as dentists. But, some people still prefer traditional methods as they are strong enough for them.
