title: Influence of powder-to-water ratio on radiopacity, setting time, pH, calcium ion release and a micro-CT volumetric solubility of white mineral trioxide aggregate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the radiopacity, setting time, pH level, calcium ion release and solubility of white mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA; Angelus, Londrina, Pr, Brazil) with different powder-to-water ratios.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three MTA groups were prepared using 4 : 1, 3 : 1 and 2 : 1 powder-to-water ratios. For the radiopacity analysis, the 10 × 1 mm specimens were arranged on occlusal films with a cylinder of dentine and an aluminium stepwedge. The digitized radiographs were evaluated with Digora 1.51 software to determine the radiographic density. The setting time test was performed according to the American Society for Testing and Materials 266/08 standard specifications, but the specimens were made according to International Organization for Standardization 6876:2001. Thirty acrylic teeth with root-end filling material were immersed in ultrapure water for measurement of pH level and calcium ion release (atomic absorption spectrophotometer) at 3, 24, 72 and 168 h. In the solubility test, the root-end fillings of 30 acrylic teeth were scanned twice by a Micro-CT, before and after immersion in ultrapure water for 168 h. Digital data were reconstructed, and the volume (mm(3) ) of the samples was obtained using CTan software (CTan v1.11.10.0, SkyScan). The data were statistically analysed by the anova, Tukey, Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The radiopacity was higher (P < 0.05) when the 4 : 1 proportion was utilized. The setting time was longer, and the pH level and calcium ion release were higher (P < 0.05) with a greater volume of water. The group with more water (2 : 1) had significantly (P < 0.05) more material volume loss (6.46%) compared with the other groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ratio of powder/water significantly interfered with the physical and chemical properties of white MTA Angelus.
authors: Department of Operative Dentistry, Endodontics and Dental Materials, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: B C
authors: BC
authors: Cavenago
authors: T C
authors: TC
authors: Pereira
authors: M A H
authors: MA
authors: Duarte
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Ordinola-Zapata
authors: M A
authors: MA
authors: Marciano
authors: C M
authors: CM
authors: Bramante
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Bernardineli
mesh_terms: D017607:Aluminum Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D002118:Calcium / Q000737:chemistry*; D017610:Calcium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011208:Powders; D017640:Silicates / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility; D014867:Water; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D017610:Calcium Compounds; D004338:Drug Combinations; D010087:Oxides; D011208:Powders; D017640:Silicates; C086631:mineral trioxide aggregate; D014867:Water; D002118:Calcium
keywords: MTA; chemical and physical properties; material testing