Dental cements are materials of multiple uses including restorations, luting and therapeutic. They are generally materials of comparatively low strength, but have extensive use in dentistry. The first dental cement is said to have been introduced in 1785 by Sorel who created the ‘zinc-oxide-chloric-cement’. Nearly a hundred years later Rostain and then Flak developed and introduced the zinc phosphate cement. Around the same period silicates were also developed. Cements have come a long way since then. Many of them have been improved considerably, while some like the silicate cements have been discontinued. Some like the glass ionomers and the polycarboxylate have adhesive properties and form a chemical bond to dentin and enamel. Regardless of some inferior properties, they possess so many desirable features that they are widely used in dentistry.