Structure of bioactive glass and its application to glass ionomer cement.

We prepared a new glass ionomer cement using bioactive CaO-P2O5-SiO2(-MgO) glass and investigated its setting process using FT-IR and MAS NMR analyses. The compressive strengths of the cements depended on the glass composition and a maximum strength of 33.3 +/- 4.7 MPa was obtained using cement with the glass composition of MgO:4.6, CaO:44.9, SiO2:34.2 and P2O5:16.3% in weight. FT-IR analysis showed that the COOH group in the polyacrylic acid decreased and carboxylate ion (COO-Ca2+) increased after the setting reaction. A broad signal appeared around -82 ppm in 29Si MAS-NMR spectra of the glass and a new signal corresponding to hydrated silica gel formation appeared around -102 and -111 ppm after setting. This suggests that Ca2+ was released from the glass powder to form carboxylate salt and that a degree of polymerization in the silicate network increased. The setting mechanism of the cement was found to be essentially the same as in conventional glass ionomer cement.