Previous attempts to study the biocompatibility of a family of new dental cements, including endodontic sealants and periodontic packs, based on the reaction between metal oxides and ethoxy benzoic acid and n-hexyl vanillate through implantation of materials in rabbit sacrospinalis have been compromised through difficulty in containment of unset and setting components. This proposal will evaluate a new type of containment technique, i.e., resorbable gel foam, as a carrier of uniform quantities of components and setting materials. In addition, this proposed work will extend the biocompatibility study to include higher homologes of the n-hexyl vanillate which have been developed to improve cement properties as well as materials available from different sources which may have differing levels of purity.
