Chemical Differences Between White and Gray Mineral Trioxide Aggregate

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine and compare the composition of white mineral trioxide aggregate and gray mineral trioxide aggregate. Electron probe microanalysis results indicated that lime (CaO), silica (SiO2), and bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) were the dominant compounds in each case and were present at comparable levels in either of the types of mineral trioxide aggregate analyzed. It was concluded that the most significant differences observed were between the measured concentrations of Al2O3 (+122%), MgO (+130%), and especially FeO (+1000%) when gray mineral trioxide aggregate was compared with white mineral trioxide aggregate.