Definition

Classification of Physical Properties 3. Electrical properties

1. Optical properties ❑ Electrical conductivity
❑ Color and resistivity
❑ Color parameters ❑ Corrosion
❑ Factors affecting color matching
❑ Color matching in dentistry

2. Thermal properties
❑ Glass transition temperature
❑ Melting temperature
❑ Heat of fusion
❑ Thermal conductivity
❑ Coefficient of thermal
expansion
Physical Property: is a property that can change
without involving a change in the chemical
composition.

Optical

Physical
Thermal
Properties

Electrical
1. Color
❑ One of the most desirable characteristics of
dental restoration is a natural tooth-like color.
❑ For an object to be visible, it must emit, reflect
or transmit light.
❑ Light is an electromagnetic radiant energy of
certain wavelength, and human eye is sensitive
to wavelengths ranging between 400 nm (violet)
to 700 nm (red).
 The eye can distinguish between 3 color parameters:
a. Hue
It is the dominant wavelength of light (ex: red, blue
or green).

b. Value
It is the lightness or darkness of color (lighter shade
has higher value).
❑ A black standard is assigned a value of O, whereas a
white standard is assigned 10.
A tooth of low value appears gray and non–
vital = DEAD

Therefore, it is the most important parameter

because it is intimately related to the aspect
of vitality in human teeth.
c. Chroma
It represents the strength of the color or
degree of saturation of the color (color
intensity).
❑A beaker of water containing one drop of
colorant is lower in chroma than a beaker of
water containing ten drops of the same
colorant.
Metamerism
A phenomena in which objects appear
color-matched under one type of light, and
different under another light source.
❑ Clinical Significance
⦿ Color matching should be done under 2 light
sources, one of which is sun light (in the dental
clinic, color matching could be done using either
white light or sun light).
Fluorescence
⦿ It makes the teeth bright and vital, as it
increases the brightness.

❑ Clinical Significance
⦿ Dental porcelains are formulated with
fluorescing agents (as Cerium oxide) to
produce the natural appearance of tooth
structure, while acrylic resin doesn’t have the
same property.
Opacity, translucency and transparency
⦿ Opacity: the property of a material that
prevents passage of light. Opaque material
absorbs all of the light. Objects cannot be
seen through them.

⦿ Translucency: is the property of a material

that permits passage of light but with
dispersion, so objects cannot be seen clearly
through it, e.g. Tooth enamel, dental
ceramics.
⦿ Transparency: is the property of a material
that allows passage of light in such a manner
that little distortion takes place so that
objects can be clearly seen through them.
e.g. Glass
❑ Colormatching in dentistry
⦿ The most common method used for color
matching in dentistry is the “shade guide”.
1. Glass Transition Temperature (Tg)
❑ This property is characteristic to non-crystalline
structures (as polymers and waxes) that do not
have definite melting point but rather gradually
soften as their temperature is raised.

⦿ So, glass transition temperature (Tg) can be

defined as:
✓ The temperature at which there is an abrupt
increase in the coefficient of thermal expansion.
2. Melting temperature
⦿ It is the temperature at which the material
transforms from solid to liquid (for crystalline
materials).

3. Heat of fusion
⦿ It is the amount of heat in calories or joules
that is required to convert 1 gram of a
material from solid to liquid state at the
melting temperature.
4. Thermal conductivity
⦿ It is the quantity of heat in calories or joules,
per second passing through a body 1 cm thick
with a cross-section of 1 cm2 when the
temperature difference is 1ºC.

Clinical Significance
1. In case of metallic restorations with high
thermal conductivity as amalgam, extremes
in temperature would produce pain and
injury to the tooth pulp. Thus, an insulating
base is needed under metallic restorations to
prevent such thermal shocks.
2. Low thermal conductivity of resin denture
base materials tends to prevent heat
exchange between the oral cavity and soft
tissues. This exchange is important to keep
vitality of soft tissues.

⦿ Furthermore, these materials don’t allow the

patient to have the normal sense of heat and
cold while swallowing food and drinks. So
metallic denture base would be better in this
instance.
5. Coefficient of thermal expansion
It is the change in length per unit length of a
material for 1ºC change in temperature.
Clinical Significance
1. Ideally, filling materials should have similar
coefficient of thermal expansion to that of the tooth
structure to avoid breaking the marginal seal (and
subsequent leakage) between the filling and the
tooth during thermal changes.
2. During denture construction, matching (i.e.
similar or equivalent) in coefficient of
thermal expansion between denture base and
artificial teeth is essential to avoid their
separation during thermal changes.
1. Electrical conductivity and resistivity
⦿ Electrical conductivity: It is the ability of the
material to conduct an electric current.

⦿ Electricalresistivity: It is the resistance of

material to conduct electric current.

Clinical Significance
⦿ Cements to be used as insulating bases under metallic
restorations should have high electrical resistivity to
protect the underlying tooth tissues from galvanism
(i.e. electricity produced by chemical action).
2. Corrosion
⦿ It is the deterioration (i.e. becoming
progressive worse) of a metal caused by
reaction with its environment.

Galvanic corrosion
⦿ It is an electrochemical process in which one
metal corrodes preferentially to another when
both metals are in electrical contact and
immersed in an electrolyte.
Clinical Significance

⦿ Avoid using different metallic restorations (e.g.

gold and amalgam) in opposing or adjacent
teeth as they can form an electric cell in
conjunction with saliva leading to galvanic
corrosion of the more anodic metal (e.g.
amalgam).