The mechanism of dissolution of two dental cements of the acid-base setting types (silicate and glass-ionomer) is considered. Dissolution is incongruent, probably because most of the leached species can derive both from the matrix (polysalt gel) and the partly reacted glass particles. The release occurs by means of three discrete mechanisms, surface wash-off, diffusion through pores and cracks or diffusion through the bulk. Such behaviour is shown to be capable of being modelled with extremely high goodness-of-fit values, using equations such as y = const + at1/2 + bt. Analogies with research from the fields of geochemistry and nuclear fuel storage are made and these systems obey similar relationships. The dental cement systems differ, however, in that their dissolution is to some extent reversible. This is explained in terms of formation of insoluble complexes, either by reaction of the constituent ions, or by replacement of OH-, for example, with F-.