Prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth and its relation with tooth brushing habits among schoolchildren in Eastern Saudi Arabia‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The aim of this article is to provide a brief insight regarding the recent studies and their recommendations related to the modifications to glass ionomer cement (GIC) powder in order to improve their properties. An electronic search of publications was made from the year 2000 to 2018. The databases included in the current study were EBSCOhost, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. The inclusion criteria for the current study include publication with abstract or full-text articles, original research, reviews or systematic reviews, in vitro, and in vivo studies that were written in English language. Among these only articles published in peer-reviewed journals were included. Articles published in other languages, with no available abstract and related to other nondentistry fields, were excluded. A detailed review of the recent materials used as a filler phase in GIC powder has revealed that not all modifications produce beneficial results. Recent work has demonstrated that modification of GIC powder with nano-particles has many beneficial effects on the properties of the material. This is due to the increase in surface area and surface energy, along with better particle distribution of the nano-particle. Therefore, more focus should be given on nano-particle having greater chemical affinity for GIC matrix as well as the tooth structure that will enhance the physicochemical properties of GIC.

A paradigm shift is emerging in dentistry and dental treatments are now aimed at maximum conservation of tooth structure. It is nowadays considered an ethical duty of a dentist to provide their patients with minimally invasive treatment. Remineralization therapy is preferred in cases, where there is a chance of gaining success by preventive methods. Many novel caries preventive materials are now available in the market which contain components that have the ability to initiate remineralization. One such component which is caries preventive and is present in many dental materials is Casein phosphopeptide–amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP–ACP)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of adding a nano zirconia-silica-hydroxyapatite (nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA) composite synthesized using a one-pot sol-gel technique to a conventional glass ionomer cement (GIC), which was then characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Following the characterization studies, further investigations were carried out after the addition of nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA to cGIC (GIC nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA) at various percentages (~5% to 9%) to compare their fracture toughness, color stability, and sorption- solubility in relation to cGIC (Fuji IX). The XRD diffractogram indicated the presence of peaks for ZrO₂, SiO₂, and HA. The fracture toughness of GIC 5%nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA was statistically higher than that of other percentages of GIC nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA and cGIC. The highest values recorded were fracture toughness ( ), leading to an increase of ∼57%, as compared to cGIC. Overall, the color change () values for GIC 5% nano Zr-Si-HA group were lower than those of cGIC over a one-month period and were between slight and perceptible. In addition, GIC 5%nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA recorded lower sorption values ( ) as compared to cGIC ( ) and higher solubility ( ) as compared to cGIC ( ). The addition of nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA to cGIC significantly enhanced its physicomechanical properties. Based on the results of our study, GIC nanoZrO₂-SiO₂-HA has the potential to be suggested as a restorative dental material with diverse applications ranging from cavity restoration, core build-up, and as a luting material.