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The release of monomer from methylmethacrylate bone cements was studied during immersion in an aqueous environment intended to simulate in vivo polymerization of the material. Monomer release from disk-shaped specimens into an aqueous environment was assayed by gas chromatography. The simulated intracorporal polymerization was carried out under a variety of conditions intended to encompass possible clinical variables. The majority of monomer release occurred within the first 15 min of immersion. Under conditions generally recommended for commercial cements the release into aqueous media was always less than 3% of the total monomer weight. Clinically feasible options of delaying the time from onset of mixing of the cement to insertion into the host resulted in only a 0.7 wt % difference in the amount of released monomer. Measurements for a variety of monomer/powder ratios demonstrated a minimum in the amount of released monomer at a ratio of about 0.4 ml/g. In terms of unit area covered, thin specimens released less monomer than thick specimens.

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The interaction between tooth and amalgam during in vitro corrosion of dental amalgams has been studied in this investigation. Extracted teeth have been restored with five commercial amalgams, one of which was gamma 2 -free and the others contained the gamma 2-phase. The restored teeth were immersed in a 1% NaC1 solution for 9 months. Post corrosion restorations have been examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray microanalysis. The results are: (1) gamma 2-containing amalgam surfaces were covered with Ca-Sn-P-rich corrosion products of various morphology which occasionally contained relatively low concentrations of C1 and/or Zn; (2) the corrosion products on the gamma 2-free amalgam surface indicated relatively high concentrations of Hg in addition to Ca, p, Sn, Cu, and Zn. These results agree with the past observations that corrosion of amalgam restorations is not an isolated process. Rather it may involve reactions of the restoration and the surrounding oral environment including tooth and oral fluids in which interactions of Sn, Zn, Hg, Ca and P take place.