The heat risk during hardening of dental glass-ionomer cements using a light-curing

An use of a polymerization lamp to irradiate chemically hardened glass-ionomer materials may improve their properties and accelerate the setting time. However, an excessive increase in the temperature of a material poses a potential risk for the dental pulp. Maximum temperatures reported during irradiation of selected glass-ionomers have been determined in this paper for samples of sizes similar to those used in clinical practice. Three glass-ionomer materials used for filling dental cavities have been examined: GC Fuji VIII, GC Fuji Triage Pink, and GC Fuji Triage White. The LED Elipar lamp was used in the light-curing process. The temperature measurement on the outer surface of the samples was conducted with the use of the Thermovision®550 thermal imaging camera. The examined materials significantly differed in the maximum temperatures they reached, as well as the time they required to reach these temperatures. A statistically significant positive correlation of maximum temperature with the sample weight was observed for the GC Fuji Triage Pink material.