Comparison of Physical Properties of Glass-ionomer Cement with Alkasite as a Restorative Material – An In vitro Study

Aim: To compare the physical properties such as compressive strength, microleakage, surface hardness, and fluid uptake between alkasite and glass-ionomer cement (GIC). Methods: Twenty premolar teeth extracted for orthodontic purpose were divided into two groups, namely Group 1: Cention N (an alkasite) and Group 2: Fuji Type II (GIC). Following Class V Cavity preparation, all the teeth samples were restored with the respective restorative material according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The micro leakage of the restorative material was assessed through stereomicroscope. The surface hardness was determined pre- and postthermo cycling (1000 cycles); the teeth samples using Knoop hardness test. Compressive strength and fluid uptake of the two restorative materials were also checked. Paired t -test and Independent sample t -test were used for intra- and intergroup comparisons, respectively. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: From the results, it was inferred that Cention N (1.8 ± 1.788) had significantly lesser microleakage on comparison with Fuji Type II GIC (4 ± 0.0) ( P = 0.02). The compressive strength of Cention N was 185.09 ± 45.85 which was significantly higher than Fuji Type II GIC’s compressive strength of 57.96 ± 22.96 ( P < 0.001). Cention N had significantly higher postsurface hardness values than Fuji Type II GIC ( P < 0.001). No statistically significant difference was noted in fluid uptake between Cention N and Fuji Type II GIC. Conclusion: Cention N (alkasite) has significantly higher compressive strength, significantly less microleakage and significantly higher hardness than Fuji Type II (GIC) indicating better physical properties as a restorative material compared to conventional GIC.