Cementitious dental compositions suitable for use as luting agents, sedative and insulating bases, temporary and long term restoratives, endodontic sealants, pulp capping materials, tissue packs, impression pastes and adhesives for dental composites and hard tissues comprising a solid phase which includes a metal oxide or hydroxide of tin or a Group II metal and a liquid phase which includes a chelating compound, the chelating compound being an ester of a vanillic acid moiety in which the ester is the product of a reaction of one of an alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol or a polyalkylene glycol and at least one of either vanillic acid or its isomers or homoloynes. The compositions may additionally contain a second chelating compound, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, an hydrogenated rosin, polymeric materials and polymerizable monomeric materials.