Glass ionomers are routinely placed as caries control restorations due to their bioactive properties, including fluoride release and chemical adhesion to the tooth structure. However, their poor physical properties limit their use to minimum stress-bearing cases and caries-control temporization. A novel bioactive hybrid glass restorative material with improved properties with a resin coating (RCHG) has been developed for a definitive restoration comparable to composite resin. This in-vitro study compared the compressive and flexural strength of resin-coated RCHG to nano-filled composite resin restorative material (NFCR). A total of 40 samples, cylindrical and bar-shaped samples, were fabricated from RCHG and NFCR (n=10). Compressive strength and 3-point bending testing were performed in a universal testing machine. The mean values for each material were statistically compared using an independent t-test at a significance level of P<0.05. RCHG had significantly lower mean flexural strength and compressive strength values (57.77 ± 3.95 and 81.52 ± 18.38MPa respectively) than NFCR (201.30 ± 15.25 and 217.55 ± 51.66 MPa, respectively). The investigated RCHG material is still not as reliable in stress-bearing restorations compared to resin composites. However, further testing is needed to appraise the true potential of these bioactive glass materials.
