Toughening of dental glass ionomer cements with reactive glass fibres

A fibre reinforced glass ionomer cement (FRGIC) for dental applications was loaded with 20 vol% short fibres (430 μm) with a glass composition in the system SiO2–Al2O3–CaF2–Na3AlF6. The fracture toughness and the total energy release rate were examined. A 20% anisotropic fibre alignment was observed, perpendicular to the loading direction. An increase of fracture toughness of 140% and of total energy release rate of 440% was achieved compared to the unreinforced glass ionomer cement. Matrix–fibre interface reaction is supposed to exert the major influence on mechanical behaviour of FRGIC by controlling fibre pull-out and thus the total energy release rate.