Evaluation of surface hardness of glass ionomer reinforced cements by carbon nanotubes

Introduction Glass ionomer cements (GIC) are materials with low tensile and shear bond strength and therefore contraindicated in areas subjected to high occlusal stress loads. Aim To evaluate the effect of incorporation of carbon nanotubes in GICs, conventional or indicated for the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), through the superficial microhardness test. Material and method Forty-eight specimens were prepared and divided into 4 groups according to the type of GIC (n=12): conventional or high viscosity, embedded or not with 2% carbon nanotubes (CN): (A) Vidrion R, (B) Vidrion R + 2% CN, (C) Vitro Molar and (D) Vitro Molar + 2% CN. The specimens were inserted into plastic molds with Centrix syringe and stored in deionized water for 24 hours. After polishing, the superficial hardness was performed with a Knoop indenter. Five indentations were made on each specimen, with distance of 100 micrometers between indentations. Result The average hardness values were 58.96 ± 8.29 (A) 34.81 ± 5.78 (B) 4.91 ± 60.84 (C) 41.97 ± 5.45 (D). ANOVA detected significant difference for the two varibales, material (p=0,016) and CN inclusion (p<0,0001). Tukey test revealed that the groups A and C were statistically similar (p>0.05), while the B and D groups showed significant differences (p<0.05). When comparing the incorporation or not of factor CN, there was significant difference between groups A and B and between C and D groups (p<0.05). Conclusion The incorporation of CNTs negatively influenced the values of surface hardness for the two types of GIC used.