Comparative Evaluation of Flexural Strength of Glass Ionomer Cement and Cention N in Artificial Medium Over Time Intervals - An In-Vitro Study

BACKGROUND Glass ionomer cement (GIC) is a versatile restorative cement in paediatric dentistry. Due to its less flexural strength, alternative materials have been developed. Cention N is one such material, but since it’s a new material evidence is lacking regarding its physical properties, especially flexural strength for evaluating its clinical outcome. We wanted to compare the flexural strength of glass ionomer cement and Cention N stored in artificial saliva and its variation over different time intervals, i.e., after 24 hours, 1 week and 4 weeks. METHODS A total of 30 specimens were prepared for GIC (Fuji IX) and Cention N and were further categorized according to the duration of storage time of 24 hours, 1 week and 4 weeks (N = 10). A 3 - point bending test using a universal testing machine was used to evaluate the flexural strength. RESULTS GIC Fuji IX showed a mean flexural strength of 35.296 ± 1.61 Mpa at the end of 24 hours, 47.234 ± 4.12 after 1 week and 66.039 ± 11.05 Mpa at the end of 4 weeks. GIC showed a statistically significant increase of flexural strength from 24 hours to one week and a further increase after 4 weeks of storage. The flexural strength of Cention N at 24 hours was 175.985 ± 22.11 Mpa, at the end of one week was 163.486 ± 17.55 MPa, and after 4 weeks was 175.437 ± 27.22 Mpa. Cention N did not show any statistically significant change in flexural strength value from 24 hours to 4 weeks. Cention N showed highly significant difference between flexural strength compared to GIC at all - time intervals. CONCLUSIONS Cention N has a superior flexural strength compared to GIC at all - time intervals. KEY WORDS Cention N, Flexural Strength, Glass Ionomer Cement