The effect of adding metronidazole on solubility, setting time and the antimicrobial properties of glass ionomer cement

Abstract

A pathogen-free environment is essential for the high success of any restorative or endodontic procedure. Glass ionomer cement has the advantage that its biological and physical properties can be modified simply by changing the powder to liquid ratio or by changing the chemical formulation. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of adding metronidazole on the solubility, setting time and antibacterial properties of glass ionomer cement. Materials and Methods In this laboratory study, 40 discs of cement and metronidazole mixture and 40 discs of cement without metronidazole (control) were prepared. Light cure glass ionomer cement powder (GC Fuji IX, GC Corporation) was physically mixed with metronidazole powder at a weight percentage of 10 to 90. For solubility testing, the ISO 4049 solubility test and the setting time evaluation were measured according to ISO6873 standards using a Vicat apparatus. In order to investigate the antibacterial property, the disk diffusion method and the diameter of the growth inhibition zone were used. SPSS24 software and Mann-Whitney test were used to analyze the data. A probability value of less than 5 percent was considered as a significant level. Results The solubility rate in the metronidazole-containing cement group (23.98±4.05) was not significantly different from the control group (20.89±3.99). The setting time in the metronidazole-containing cement group (5.96±0.49) was significantly greater than the control group (5.21±0.32). The diameter of the growth inhibition zone in the metronidazole-containing cement group (19.99±0.54 mm) was significantly greater than the control group (7.82±0.50 mm). Conclusion It seems that the combination of metronidazole with glass ionomer cement can be a suitable restorative material.