Cementation of Indirect Restorations: An

Overview of Resin Cements

Catherine Stamatacos, DDS; and James F. Simon, DDS, Med

Abstract:
The process of ensuring proper retention, marginal seal, and durability of indirect
restorations depends heavily on effective cementation. Careful consideration must be made
when selecting an adhesive cement for a given application. This article provides
information on resin cements that can guide clinicians in determining which type of cement
is best suited to their clinical needs regarding cementation of indirect restorations.
Emphasis is placed on successful cementation of all-ceramic restorations.

Cementation is a crucial step in the process of ensuring the retention, marginal seal, and
durability of indirect restorations.1 Since the introduction of the first all-porcelain crown in
the early 1900s, various cements have been used to adhere porcelain crowns to tooth
structure. Initially, only luting cements were available for use, which led to many failures.
Presently, another category has been added—the adhesive cements. Resin cements fall
into this category of adhesive cements. Adhesive cements must bond to a variety of
different substrates, including dentin and enamel, porcelain and other ceramics, gold and
other metal alloys, and indirect resin composites.2
There are several characteristics of resin cements that make them clinically superior luting
agents. Resin cements may have high bond strengths both to tooth structure and porcelain,
high tensile and compressive strengths, and the lowest solubility of the available
cements.3 Flexural properties—including modulus and strength—are important to prevent
de-bonding during function, and resin cements have both a high modulus and strength. In
fact, they have the highest strength of the cements currently in use.4,5
The disadvantages of resin cements are associated with their technique sensitivity and
difficulty with clean-up. Resin cements may change shade during curing and can darken
during their lifetime. This can be a crucial factor, especially since esthetics is a particularly
important characteristic for all-ceramic restorations.6 Because these materials depend upon
bonding, the operator must be careful to follow all steps in proper order and with the
recommended time for each step.6

Resin Cement Classifications

Resin cements may be classified according to their polymerization mechanisms into light-
cured, chemical-cured, and dual-cured (Table 1). They can also be classified by their
adhesive scheme: total-etch, self-etching, and self-adhesive (Table 2).7 The self-adhesive
resin cements may be referred to as “all-in-one” resin cements or universal cements.6
The curing methods are a factor in dictating the potential uses of the cements. For
example, in cases where very little or no light-cure is possible, chemical-cure cement is a
better choice than either a dual-cure or, of course, a light-cure cement.6

Classification by Polymerization Mechanism

Light-Cure Resin Cements—Light-cure resin cements utilize photo-initiators, which are
activated by light. The ability of light to penetrate all areas and activate the photo-initiators
is important with this type of cement. An advantage of light-curing cements is that there can
be an increased working time compared to the other cure types. The clinician has the ability
to remove excess cement before curing, and thus the finishing time required is decreased.6
Another advantage of light-cure cements is their color stability compared to dual-cure or
chemical-cure resin cements.8 These cements are, therefore, suitable for esthetic
restorations and metal-free restorations.9,10 Light-polymerized resins are recommended
when cementing ceramic that is thin and fairly translucent, allowing the transmission of light
through it to reach the resin cement.1
Examples of light-polymerized cements include: RelyX™ Veneer Cement (3M
ESPE, www.3MESPE.com); Variolink® Veneer (Ivoclar Vivadent
Inc., www.ivoclarvivadent.com); and Choice™ 2 Light-Cured Veneer Cement (BISCO,
Inc., www.bisco.com).
Dual-Cure Resin Cements—Dual-cure resin cements are capable of being cured by means
of both chemicals and light. Self-cure initiators that can cure the cement are present. In
addition, a curing light can be used to activate the photo-initiators that are present in the
cement.6 Dual-polymerized resin cements are indicated when the ceramic is too thick or too
opaque to allow transmission of light through it.11 Studies have shown that these dual-cure
resin cements still require light-curing to reach a high degree of polymerization.12,13 These
cements are used for metal-free restorations where light-curing may be performed to
quickly seal margins.6
Examples include: NX3 Nexus® Third Generation (Kerr Corporation, www.kerrdental.com);
RelyX™ ARC Adhesive Resin Cement (3M ESPE); and Variolink® II (Ivoclar Vivadent Inc.).
Chemical-Cure Resin Cements—Chemical-cure resin cements polymerize with a chemical
reaction and are referred to as “self-curing.” This means that two materials must be mixed
together to initiate this reaction.6 These cements are especially useful in areas where light-
curing is difficult. Some examples include metal restorations, endodontic posts, and
ceramic restorations that prohibit the curing unit from adequately polymerizing the resin
cement.6
Chemically polymerized resin cements do not offer much selection in terms of shade and
translucency; therefore, dual-polymerized resin cements can be beneficial. Additionally,
accessible areas benefit from light polymerization with dual-polymerized resin cements.14
Examples include: Panavia™ (Kuraray Dental, www.kuraraydental.com); and C&B™
Cement (BISCO, Inc.).

Classification by Adhesive Scheme

Total-Etch Resin Cements—Total-etch resin cements use a 30% to 40% phosphoric acid-
etch to etch dentin and enamel. This etching procedure removes the smear layer, and
dentinal tubules are opened.2 After etching, the adhesive is then applied to the preparation
to bond the cement to the tooth. These cements and the adhesives used with them can be
light- or dual-cured.2 Total-etch resin cements have increased the bond strengths of resin-
based cements to nearly that of enamel bonding and have significantly reduced
microleakage.15 This category provides the highest cement-to-tooth bond but also requires
the most steps to bond ceramic, composite resin, or metal to the tooth. This multi-step
application technique is complex and consequently might compromise bonding
effectiveness,7 because each step represents a possible contamination point.7
Examples include: RelyX ARC (3M ESPE); Variolink II (Ivoclar Vivadent Inc.); Choice 2
(BISCO, Inc.); and Calibra® (DENTSPLY Caulk, www.caulk.com).
Self-Etch Resin Cements—Self-etch systems apply a self-etching primer to prepare the
tooth surface, and mixed cement is applied over the primer. Bonds to tooth structure using
this category of cements are almost as high as those of the total-etch cements.2
Self-etching systems are popular among dentists because they are easy to use, but as a
general category they have demonstrated bond strength to enamel that is weaker than that
of total-etch systems.16 Therefore, the total-etch, three-step adhesive system of some 30
years ago still sets the standard in terms of versatility and long-term predictability.17
Resin cements that incorporate self-etching primers eliminate steps during application with
the goal of reducing operator errors and technique sensitivity and increasing ease of
use.18 However, it is imperative to follow the manufacturer’s instructions during adhesive
cementation, including use of the manufacturer’s adhesive and resin cement combination,
because investigators have found incompatibilities between some dual-cure resin cements
and simplified adhesive systems.19
Self-Adhesive Resin Cements—A number of resin cements have been introduced as one-
component “universal adhesive cements”; they are said to have good bond strengths to
dentin, enamel, and porcelains without the need for separate bonding agents.20-22 These
self-adhesive cements can bond to an untreated tooth surface that has not been micro-
abraded or pretreated with an etchant, primer, or bonding agent; thus, cementation is
accomplished in a single step. These cements contain phosphoric acid, which is grafted
into the resin. Once mixing is initiated, the phosphoric acid reacts with filler particles and
dentin in the presence of water, forming a bond. The resin is polymerized into a cross-
linked polymer, as is the case with composite resin bonding.9
Data from Burgess et al (2010)7 shows that most of these cements bond better to dentin
than to enamel. With most of the cements in this category, the bond to enamel is improved
when an etchant and bonding agent are applied.23 This “selective-etch” approach uses an
etchant or a self-etching primer before applying the self-adhesive resin cement. In other
words, “selectively etching” enamel and/or dentin surfaces and indirect restorations may be
incorporated to improve the bond of these self-adhesive resin cements. However, a lower
bond strength to dentin was shown when the phosphoric acid pre-etch was applied.23 In
contrast to enamel, when dentin is etched with phosphoric acid and a bonding agent is
applied with one of these cements, the bond decreases.7 This negative effect of pre-etching
of dentin for self-etch adhesives has been shown many times in the literature.23 When
tested without the pre-etch, self-adhesive resin cements have been shown to produce fairly
strong bonds to dentin.23-26 Examples include: RelyX™ Unicem (3M ESPE),
BisCem® (BISCO, Inc.), Maxcem Elite™ (Kerr Corporation), SpeedCEM™ (Ivoclar Vivadent
Inc.).
In Simon et al (2011), it appears that the self-adhesive cements are on par with the values
seen for resin cements. A possible explanation for this observation is that the self-adhesive
cements are changing. For instance, older tests used RelyX Unicem cement in capsule
format, whereas in this newer test the Unicem Clicker™ Dispense (3M ESPE) system was
used. The cement was reformulated to accommodate the new delivery system. The
changes in observed strengths may be due to incremental improvements made by the
manufacturers.27
Additional Clinical Considerations and Advantages
When using resin-based cements, the internal surface of the restoration must be treated
differently than the surface of the tooth, because the surface treatment depends upon the
type of material (metal, ceramic, or zirconia) used for the restoration. The surface of the
tooth may need to be treated with phosphoric acid, while the surface of the restoration may
need to be treated with hydrofluoric acid, sandblasting, and silanization.8
The excellent physical properties and ability of resin luting materials to facilitate “adhesive”
luting of restorations are distinct clinical advantages, because the clinician may not always
be able to achieve an ideal taper or crown height.28 In a recent study by Simon et al,27 the
tensile bond strength of ceramic crowns milled with computer-assisted design/computer-
assisted machining (CAD/CAM) technology was tested on overly prepared teeth. This study
found in a number of cases that the retention of the crowns supplied by three leading
adhesive cements was stronger than the ceramic crown itself; however, these high bond
strengths cannot be achieved on a consistent basis.27
The efficiency by which the self-adhesive resin cements adapt to and seal margins is
critical for their success.2Studies have found conflicting results when analyzing the marginal
seal and microleakage of resin cements.29,30However, self-etch and total-etch resin cements
tend to have adequate marginal adaptation compared to glass ionomers, resin-modified
glass ionomers (RMGIs), and zinc phosphate cements.31
Because self-adhesive cements bond to tooth structure, excess cement should be removed
before setting to avoid damaging the weaker early bond.7 Self-adhesive cements are dual-
cured, and like all dual-cured cements, have reduced bond strengths, color stability, and
wear resistance in the self-cure-only mode.7 Therefore, the clinician should light-activate all
dual-curing cements at accessible restorative margins to improve marginal integrity and
wear resistance and to reduce staining.7

Conclusions
The key points for clinicians to bear in mind regarding resin-based cements are:

• Bond strengths vary among specific cements, but total-etch cements generally provide the
greatest retention; self-etching systems are intermediate; and self-adhesive cements can
provide bond strength nearly equal to self-etching systems.7
• Self-adhesive resin cements can create bond strengths to dentin that exceed the strength
of the ceramic material.27
• High bond strengths can be achieved with self-adhesive resin cements on non-retentive
teeth.27
• Large coefficients of variation indicate that the bond strength cannot consistently be
achieved.27
While in vitro data may show some cement bond differences among investigators, self-
adhesive cements perform well clinically.32 Although clinical evaluations are few and short-
term, the result of this review of self-adhesive resin cements would suggest that these
materials may be expected to show clinical performance similar to that of other resin-based
and nonresin-based dental cements.2 The handling properties of these materials appear to
be excellent, and their acceptance by the profession is increasing.2

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Related Content:

A CE article, Considerations for Proper Selection of Dental Cements, is available from

CDEWorld at dentalaegis.com/go/cced290

About the Authors

Catherine Stamatacos, DDS
Assistant Professor
Director
Research and Education
Department of Restorative Dentistry
College of Dentistry
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Memphis, Tennessee
James F. Simon, DDS, Med
Professor
Director, Division of Esthetic Dentistry
College of Dentistry
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Memphis, Tennessee