Comparison of retention of provisional crowns cemented with temporary cements containing stannous fluoride and sodium fluoride-an in vitro study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of stannous fluoride (SnF2) and sodium fluoride (NaF) to luting cements on the retention of provisional crowns. Provisional crowns were fabricated using methyl methacrylate and bis-acryl composite resin for 32 chamfer prepared molars. For control group A, crowns were cemented with Freegenol and RelyX Temp NE non-eugenol cements. For test group B, crowns were cemented using the above cements with the addition of SnF2. For test group C, crowns were cemented using the above cements with the addition of NaF. The specimens were thermocycled and retention test was conducted after 7 days. The addition of SnF2 significantly increased the retentive strength of both the cements in the range of 27-48 %, whereas addition of NaF decreased the retentive strength of both the cements in the range of 14-23 %. SnF2 can be mixed with non-eugenol luting cements to improve the retention of both methyl methacrylate and bis-acryl composite crowns. The different effects of NaF and SnF2 on retention indicate that it may be useful to have two different types of provisional luting cements for short-term and long-term cementation, as appropriate.