Under guidence of :-

Dr. B.Rajkumar (Head)

Presented by :-
Dr. Pradyumna Misra (Proff)
Dr. Rohit Sharma
Dr. Praveen Samant (Proff)
Dr Vipul Srivastava ( Reader)
Dr. Sanjeev Srivastava (Reader)
 CERAMIC
A compound of metallic and nonmetallic
elements.

DENTAL CERAMIC
An inorganic compound with nonmetallic
properties typically consisting of oxygen
and one or more metallic or semimetallic
elements(eg:-aluminium, calcium, lithium,
magnesium, potassium, silicon, sodium,
tin, titanium, and zirconium)

2
 The more restrictive term is porcelain.

 It refers to a specific compositional range of

ceramic material made by mixing kaolin,
quartz, and feldspar, and firing at high
temperature.

3
 Dental ceramics for ceramic-metal
restorations belongs to this compositional
range and are commonly referred to as
dental porcelains.

 ALL PORCELAIN ARE CERAMICS BUT

ALL CERAMICS ARE NOT PORCELAIN.

4
 They are most suitable tooth colored
restorative material used to make
denture teeth, single unit crowns, fixed
partial dentures and labial veneers.
 It is the most durable esthetic material,
impervious to oral fluids and biologically
compatible.

5
 In the last few decades there has
been tremendous advances in the
mechanical properties and methods
of fabrication of these materials.

6
BACKGROUND
Dental ceramics are essentially oxide based
glass-ceramic systems. They have three essential
features/requirements:

1. Ease of fabrication of complex shapes

2. Sufficient mechanical and corrosion resistance

3. Appropriate aesthetic appeal

7
 INTRODUCTION
 The history of restorative & prosthetic dentistry
can be traced back as far as ancient Egyptian
times.
 Examples of tooth replacement prostheses
made from gold wire, ox bone or wood have
been found.

8
 It seems that in ancient times the main
requirement was to replace teeth lost as a result
of gum disease, whereas in recent times it is to
restore teeth damaged by decay. Restorations
today are largely required as a result of trauma,
decay, gum disease and aesthetics.

 The latter being a more recent area of high

demand and one in which ceramic materials play
a large role.

 McLean (1979) provides a concise history of

ceramic use in modern dentistry.

9
 The use of ceramics for the restoration of teeth
has been a part of dentistry's modern period of
evolution.
 This period started in the late seventeen
hundreds but major advances have mainly come
about this century.
 The demand for aesthetic restorations led to
improvements in ceramic formulation and firing
techniques.
 The types of ceramic systems have been largely
summarised by McLean.

10
 HISTORY OF DENTAL
CERAMICS
 During the Stone Age more than 10,000
years ago, ceramics were important
materials, and they have retained their
importance in human societies ever since.
 The first porcelain tooth material was
patented in 1789 by a French dentist (de
Chemant) in collaboration with a French
pharmacist (Duchateau).

11
 In 1808, Fonzi, an Italian dentist,
invented a "terrometallic" porcelain tooth
that was held in place by a platinum pin
or frame.
 In England, Ash developed an improved
version of the porcelain tooth in 1837.

12
 Dr. Charles Land introduced one of the first
ceramic crowns to dentistry in 1903.
 Land, who was the grandfather of aviator
Charles Lindbergh, described a technique for
fabricating ceramic crowns using a platinum
foil matrix and high-fusing feldspathic
porcelain.
 These crowns exhibited excellent aesthetics,
but the low flexural strength of porcelain
resulted in a high incidence of failures.

13
 A significant improvement in the fracture
resistance of porcelain crowns was
reported by McLean and Hughes in
1965 when a dental aluminous core
ceramic consisting of a glass matrix
containing between 40 and 50 wt%
Al2O3 was used.

14
 Since the introduction of aluminous
porcelain crowns in the early 1900s and the
methods to produce durable metal-ceramic
crowns in the 1960s, improvements in both
the composition of ceramics and the
method of forming the ceramic core of
ceramic crowns have greatly enhanced our
ability to produce more accurate and
fracture-resistant crowns made entirely of
ceramic material.

15
 Improvement in all­ceramic systems
developed by controlled crystallization of a
glass (Dicor) was demonstrated by Adair
and Grossman (1984).
 This glass was melted and cast into a
refractory mold and subsequently
crystallized to form the Dicor glass-ceramic
that contained tetrasilicic fluormica crystals
in a glass matrix.

16
 Other ultralow-fusing ceramics (sintering
temperatures below 850ºC), now
commonly referred to as low fusing
ceramics, have been introduced as
veneering glasses.

17
 The new generation of ceramics,
including Cercon, Lava, In-Ceram
Zirconia, IPS Empress2, and Procera
AlICeram used for ceramic prostheses.

18
 classified in several possible ways
(1) use or indications
(anterior, posterior, crowns, veneers,
post and cores, FPDs, stain ceramic,
and glaze ceramic)
(2) composition
(pure alumina, pure zirconia, silica
glass, leucite-based glass-ceramic, and
lithia-based glass­ceramic)

19
(3) Processing Method
(sintering, partial sintering and glass infiltration,
CAD-CAM, and copy-milling)
(4) Firing Temperature
(low-fusing, medium-fusing, and high-fusing)
(5) Microstructure
(glass, crystalline, and crystal-containing
glass)
(6) Translucency
(opaque, translucent, and transparent)

20
(7) Fracture Resistance
(8) Abrasiveness

 The fracture resistance of posterior all-

ceramic FPDs is based on
I. the strength and fracture toughness of the
ceramic components,
II. the connector dimensions
III. the connector shape (gingival embrasures
must have large radii of curvature), and
IV. the patient's biting force.

21
 Dental ceramics can be classified by:-
1. TYPE
(feldspathic porcelain, leucite-reinforced
porcelain, aluminous porcelain, alumina, glass-
infiltrated alumina, glass-infiltrated spinel,
glass-infiltrated zirconia and glass-ceramic)
2. USE
(denture teeth, metal­ceramics, veneers, inlays,
crowns, anterior bridges, and posterior bridges)

22
3. PROCESSING METHOD
(sintering, casting, or machining),
4. SUBSTRUCTURE MATERIAL
(cast metal, swaged metal, glass-
ceramic, CAD-CAM porcelain, or
sintered ceramic core)

23
MODE OF SUPPLY
Porcelain is supplied as a kit containing:
a) Fine ceramic powders in different shades:
 Enamel
 Dentine
 Core/ opaquer
b) Special liquid/ distilled water
c) Stains
d) Glaze

24
Glaze

 It is of two types:

a) Over glaze
b) Self glaze

25
Over glaze
 These are ceramic powders containing
more glass modifiers thus lower fusion
temperature.
 It may be applied to porcelain
restoration after it has been fired.
 It imparts an impervious glossy surface
to the restoration.

26
Self glaze
 All the constituents of porcelain frit are
completely melted to form a single
phase glass.
 Then the porcelain is said to be self-
glazed.
 Its chemical durability is better than
overglaze due to higher fusion
temperture.

27
28
 Conventional dental porcelain is a
vitreous ceramic based on a silica (Si02)
network and potash feldspar (K20 •Al203•
6Si02) or soda feldspar (Na20 •Al203 •
6SiO2) or both.
 Pigments, opacifiers, and glasses are
added to control the fusion temperature,
sintering temperature, thermal
contraction coefficient, and solubility.

29
 Feldspar -60-80%-basic glass former
 Kaolin -3-5%- binder
 Quartz -15-25%-filler
 Alumina -8-20%-glass former
 Boric oxide -2-7%-glass former & flux
 Oxides of Na, k, & Ca -9-15%-fluxes(glass
modifiers)
 Metallic pigments less than 1%-coloring agent.

30
Feldspar
 Potassium and sodium feldspar are naturally occurring
minerals composed primarily of potash (K20) and soda
(Na20), respectively. They also contain alumina
(A1203), and silica (Si02) components.
 Feldspars are used in the preparation of many dental
porcelains designed for metal-ceramic crowns and
many other dental glasses and ceramics.
 It is a basic glass former.
 During firing feldspar fuses and acts as a matrix and
binds silica and kaolin.

31
32
Kaolin

 It is a white clay like material.

 It is a hydrated aluminium silicate.

 Acts as a binder, gives opacity to the

mass.

33
Silica
 It is obtained by grinding pure quartz.

 It acts as a refractory skeleton and

provides strength and hardness to
porcelain during fusing.

34
Aluminium Oxide
 Replaces some silica in glass matrix.

 It gives strength and opacity to the porcelain.

 It alters softening point and increases the

viscosity of porcelain during firing.

35
Fluxes and Glass Modifiers

 These lower the fusion temperature and

increases the flow of porcelain during
firing.

 They also absorb or remove impurities

36
Coloring Frits
 These are produced by fusing various
metallic oxides with fine glass and feldspar
and then grinding to powder.
 They are added to dental porcelain to
obtain various shades to match natural
tooth color.
 They are oxides of tin, cobalt, titanium, iron
or gold. Opacity may be achieved by these
oxides.

37
 These powder are blended with unpigmented
powdered frit to provide the proper hue and
chroma.
 Examples of metallic oxides and their
respective color contributions to porcelain
includes iron or nickel oxides (brown); copper
oxide (green); titanium oxide (yellowish
brown); mangnese oxide (lavender); and
cobalt oxide (blue).
 Opacity may be achieved by the addition of
cerium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide,
or tin oxide.

38
FABRICATION OF A CERAMIC
RESTORATION
 The porcelain powder is mixed with the
liquid to form a plastic mass which is
condensed to form the porcelain
restoration.
 Then it is fired in the furnace for sintering.
 When shrinks and flows, so the built up
mass to be supported on the matrix.

39
 Description of the steps are as follows:
1) Condensation
2) Firing
3) Cooling
4) Glazing

40
CONDENSATION
 The powdered particles are closely
packed in order to reduce the shrinkage
and minimize porosity in the fired
porcelain.
 The process of packing the powdered
particles together and removing excess
water is known as condensation.

41
42
Method of condensations are:
A) vibration: mild vibrations are used to densely
pack the wet powder upon the underlying matrix.
 The excess water comes to the surface and it is
blotted with a tissues.
B) spatulation: the small spatula is used to apply
and smoothen the wet porcelain.
 This action brings excess water to the surface.
C) brush technique: dry powder is placed by a
brush.
 Water is drawn towards the dry powder and the
wet particle are pulled together.
D) ultrasonic: mild vibrations are transmitted
electrically.
43
 It is important to remember that the
surface tension of the water is the
driving force in condensation and that
the porcelain must never be allowed
to dry out until condensation is
complete.

44
FIRING PROCEDURE
 It is carried out fusing the porcelain.
 The process of heating closely packed particles to
achieve interparticle bonding, and sufficient
diffusion to decrease the surface area or increase
the density of the structure, process is known as
sintering.
 After condensation the compacted mass supported
by the matrix should be placed on a fire clay tray
and inserted into the muffle of the ceramic furnace.
 The porcelain should never be allowed to come
directly in contact with the wall and floor of the
muffle.

45
PORCELAIN FURNACE

46
 The condensed mass gradually heated by
first placing it in front of the muffle of a
preheated furnace [approx. 650ºc] and
later inserting into the furnace.
 During firing the porcelain shrinks 30-40%
by volume.
 During firing, partial fusion of particles
occur at their point contact.

47
 As the temperature is raised the fused
glass gradually flows to fill up the air
spaces.
 As the fused mass is viscous all the air
cannot escape and some get trapped,
giving rise to voids or porosity.
 Vacuum offset firing is done to reduce
porosity in porcelain.

48
COOLING
 It is commonly accepted that cooling must
be carried out slowly and uniformly.
 If shrinkage is not uniform it causes
cracking and loss of strength.
 Too rapid cooling of outer layers may result
surface crazing or cracking; this is also
called thermal shock.
 Slow cooling is preferred, and is
accomplished by gradual opening of the
porcelain furnace.

49
GLAZING
 After the porcelain is cleaned it is glaze to give a
smooth and glossy surface, enhance esthetics and
help in hygiene.
 Usually the glazing step is very short, when the
glazing temperature is reached, a thin glassy film is
formed by viscous flow on the porcelain surface.
 Overglazing is to be avoided, because it gives the
restoration an unnatural shiny appearance and
causes loss of contour and shade modification.
 Glazing temperature at times vary with the type and
brand of porcelain employed.

50
PROPERTIES OF FUSED
PORCELAIN
1) STRENGTH: It is a material of good
strength, however, it is brittle and tends to
fracture.
a) Flexure strength: It is a combination of
compressive, tensile, as well as shear
strength.
 Glazed porcelain is stronger than ground
porcelain.
GROUND – 75.8 Mpa [11000 psi]
GLAZED - 141.1 Mpa[20,465 psi]

51
b) Compressive strength: It has good
compressive strength.
331 Mpa [48,000 psi]
c) Tensile strength: It is low because of the
avoidable surface defects like porosities
and microscopic cracks.
34 Mpa [5000 psi]
d) Shear strength: It is also low.
110 Mpa [16,000 psi]

52
2) SURFACE HARDNESS: Porcelain is much harder than
natural teeth.
460 KHN
3) WEAR RESISTANCE: It is more resistant to wear than
natural teeth.
4) THERMAL PROPERTIES:
a) Thermal conductivity: It has low thermal conductivity.
b) Coefficient of thermal expansion: 6.4 to7.8x10-6/ºC It is
close to the natural teeth.

5) SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 2.242

53
6) DIMENSIONAL STABILITY: Becomes
more stable after firing.
7) CHEMICAL STABILITY: It is insoluble and
impermeable to oral fluids
 It is also resistant to most solvents
 But contact with hydrofluoric acid causes
etching of the porcelain surface

54
ISSUES FACING DENTAL
CERAMICS AS DENTAL
MATERIALS

55
 The first consideration is why use
ceramics. The reasons are as follows:

 Biocompatibility

 Aesthetics

 Durability

 Relative ease for customised units

56
BIOCOMPATIBILITY
 The biocompatibility issue is essential to prevent
adverse reactions within the patients.
 The dental ceramics in use today have relatively
low firing temperatures, usually greater than
900°C and are resistant to dissolution in the
mouth.
 Formulations have been developed with firing
temperatures as low as 640°C, however, these
materials tend to show considerable surface
degradation in the oral environment and hence
are not useful.

57
AESTHETICS
 Ceramic materials have long been
admired for their aesthetic qualities.
 The use of dentally coloured glasses can
provide replacement structures that can
be made to imitate tooth structure in both
colour, translucency and response to
different lighting sources.

58
 DURABILITY
 Durability is an area that has led to considerable
research for ceramic systems that can provide
individually constructed restorations, that are
small, unique, inexpensive and will be subjected
to cyclic loading in wet and sometimes abrasive
conditions.
 The advances in industrial ceramics for such
conditions have been remarkable to say the least,
in recent decades. However, nobody is going to
allow their front teeth to be restored with a
ceramic that is dark grey, black or opaque white.

59
 The advances in industrial ceramics have included
improvements in fracture toughness, wear
resistance, machinability, solubility, hardness and
flexural strength.
 Another major requirement apart from aesthetics is
that the ceramic not be too hard otherwise
abrasive wear of the opposing natural tooth will be
too severe.

60
METAL CERAMICS
 Porcelain have the disadvantage as they lack
tensile and shear strength. They can resist
only compressive stresses.
 To overcome this demerit the porcelain is
fused directly to metal.
 The bond between them should be strong in
order to avoid leakage between the two.
 It has the advantage of a good fit of metal
casting and esthetics of porcelain.

61
62
63
 The alloy should have following properties:
a] coefficient of thermal expansion should be close
or near to that of porcelain.
b] the fusion temperature should be higher than
porcelain so that it should not sag at firing temp.
c] possess higher modulus of elasticity to prevent
flexing of metal framework and hence avoid
fracture of metal framework and porcelain.
d] should be capable of bond formation with
porcelain.
e] should not contain copper and silver as they can
stain and discolor porcelain.
f] should have a high proportional limit, to avoid
excess stress on the porcelain.
64
Composition of the alloy:
 Should include platinum, palladium, which
increases their fusion temperature and
reduce the coefficient of thermal
expansion.
 Should also contain zinc, tin, indium,
chromium which form the surface oxide
layer for chemical bonding of porcelain.

65
 Composition of ceramics for PFM’s:
 The alkali content of the porcelain is
increased.
 Increase in the quantity of soda and potash
increases the coefficient of thermal
expansion to match that of the metal to which
it is fused, but increase in alkali content gives
a tendency to devitrify porcelain and appear
cloudy.
 For masking the color of metal, opacifier are
added in the opaquer porcelain.

66
67
PORCELAIN METAL BOND
 Two types of bond falls under this
category.
1] CHEMICAL BONDING.
2] MECHANICAL INTERLOCKING.

68
Chemical bonding:
 It is the primary bonding mechanism for most
metal ceramics.
 Presence of adherent oxide layer is essential
for good bond formation.
 In precious metal alloys tin oxide and indium
oxide are responsible for the bond and in
base metals chromium oxide does this role.
 In order to have good bonding, the metal
subsurface should be free from
contamination, cleaned by sandblasting,
cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner, washed and
dried, it is then oxidized in the furnace for 5
minutes.

69
Mechanical Interlocking:
 Presence of surface roughness on metal
oxide surface can result in mechanical
retention, especially if undercuts are present,
wettability is important for bonding.
 The opaque porcelain when applied on the
metal framework forms a thin film by wetting
the metal surface.
 Molten porcelain will start to wet the surface
of the metal by ‘Van der Waal’ forces.

70
Bonding using electrodeposition:

 A layer of pure gold is deposited onto the

cast metal, followed by a short ‘flashing’
deposition of tin.
 This method has been successfully used for
metal, and alloys such as cobalt- chromium,
stainless steel, palladium- silver, high and
low gold content alloys and titanium.

71
 The advantage of this method are:
1] Bonding is improved because of improved
wetting of the metal by the porcelain and the
reduced porosity at the porcelain metal
interface,
2] The electrodeposited layer acts as a barrier
between the metal casting and porcelain to
inhibit ion penetration by the metal.
3] The gold color of the oxide film improves the
vitality and esthetics of the porcelain, when
compared to the normal dark oxides which
require thick opaque layers of porcelain to
mask it.

72
4] The deposited layer acts as a buffer zone to
absorb stresses caused by differentials in the
coefficient of the thermal expansion between
porcelain and metal during cooling.

73
TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF METAL
CERAMICS RESTORTAIONS
 A clean metal surface is essential for good
bonding. Impurities from the fingers can be
a possible contaminant. The surface may
be cleaned adequately by finishing with
ceramics bonding stones or sintered
diamonds.
 Final texturing is done with an alumina air-
abrasive by process of sandblasting. This
aid in mechanical bonding of porcelain.

74
 The alloy such as olympia (J.F.Jelenko &
Company, Armonk, NY) a gold-palladium,
silver alloy, is heated in the porcelain furnace
to a temperature of 1038ºC[1900ºF] to burn
off impurities and degas it.
 Degassing is necessary for all gold porcelain
systems. In many alloy systems, degassing
also serves to form an oxide layer on alloy
surface which helps in bonding.

75
 The next step is the application of an
opaquer. The opaquer porcelain is
condensed with a thickness of approx.
0.3mm and fired.

 The opaquer helps to mask the color of the

underlying metal. The porcelain is then build
up and fired.

76
TYPES OF METAL CERAMICS ALLOYS
A.CAST METAL CERAMIC ALLOYS
1. Noble Metal Alloy Systems:
a. High gold-gold platinum palladium.
b. Low gold- gold palladium silver.
c. Gold free-palladium silver.
2. Base Metal Alloy Systems:
a. Nickel chromium alloys.
b. Cobalt chromium alloys. [rarely used in
ceramic bonding]
B.FOIL COPING:
1. Bonded Platinum Foil Coping.
2. Swaged Gold Alloy Foil Coping.

77
A. CAST METAL CERAMIC ALLOYS:
Noble Metal Alloy Systems:
a. High gold-gold platinum palladium:
 Au-88%
 Pt,Pd-varying amounts and small
amounts.
b. Low gold- gold palladium silver:
 Au- 39 to 77%
 Pd- 35%
 Ag upto 22%

78
c. Gold free-palladium silver:
 These are palladium based alloys.
 Possess good high temperature
strength.
 Their main drawback is the
discoloration of some porcelains
caused to the high silver contents
(yellow, green, or brown).

79
Base Metal Alloy Systems:
a. Nickel chromium alloys:
 Ni- upto 80%.
 Cr- 13 to 22%.
b. Cobalt chromium alloys:
 Co- 55 to 68%.
 Cr- upto 25 to 27%.

80
Allergic reactions
 Nickel based alloys can potentially
cause allergic reactions or
eczematous reactions to the
underlying soft tissues on which it is
applied.

81
82
B.Foil Coping
Bonded Platinum Foil Coping:
 This method of bonding porcelain to metal is
the use of tin oxide coating on platinum foil.
 The method consist of bonding aluminous
porcelain to platinum foil coping.
 Attachment of the porcelain is secured by
electroplating the foil with a thin layer of tin
and then oxidizing it in a furnace.
 The objective of this type of restoration is to
improve esthetics.

83
Swaged Gold Alloy Foil Coping.
 A laminated gold alloy foil supplied in fluted
shape is also used as an alternative to the
cast metal coping.
 The foil is swaged onto the die and flames
sintered to form a coping.
 An “interfacial alloy” powder is applied and
fired and the coping is then veneered with
porcelain

84
85
Creep or Sag:
 When temperature of some high noble alloys
approaches 980ºC they undergo creep.
 It can be reduced if metal has the proper
composition so that a dispersion strengthening
effect occurs at high temperature.
 It has been reduced in some of the commercial
alloys, but it apparently cannot be eliminated.

86
 The solidus temperature of base metal
alloys, such as nickel-chromium, is
higher than that of gold alloys; hence,
base metal alloys are less susceptible to
sag than are gold-based alloys.

87
Classification of bond failure in
metal ceramic
 Given by O’Brain[1977]
1) Metal-Porcelain:
2) Metal Oxide-Porcelain:
3) Metal-Metal Oxide:
4) Metal Oxide-Metal Oxide:
5) Cohesive within Metal:
6) Cohesive within Porcelain:

88
1) Metal-Porcelain:
 Fracture leaves a clean surface of
metal.
 Seen when metal surface is devoid of
oxides.
 May also be due to contaminated or
porous metal surface.

89
2) Metal Oxide-Porcelain:
 Porcelain fractures at metal oxide
surface, leaving oxide firmly attached to
metal.
 Seen more often in base metal alloys.

90
3) Metal-Metal Oxide:
 Metal oxide breaks away from the metal
and is left attached to porcelain.
 Seen commonly in base metal alloys
systems due to over production of
chromium and nickel oxides.

91
4) Metal Oxide-Metal Oxide:
 Fracture occurs through the metal oxide.
 Results from overproduction of oxides
causing sandwich effect between metal
and porcelain.

92
5) Cohesive within Metal:
 More common in bridges where the joint
area breaks.
 Rarely seen in single crowns.

93
6) Cohesive within Porcelain:
 Tensile failure within porcelain.
 Bond strength exceeds strength of
porcelain.
 Seen in high gold content alloys.

94
95
GLASS MODIFIERS
 The sintering temperature of crystalline silica is
too high for use in veneering aesthetic layers
bonded to metal substrates.
 At such temperatures the alloys would melt. In
addition, the thermal contraction coefficient of
crystalline silica is too low for these alloys.
 Bonds between the silica tetrahedra can be
broken by the addition of alkali metal ions such
as sodium, potassium, and calcium.
 These ions are associated with the oxygen
atoms at the corners of the tetrahedra and
interrupt the oxygen­silicon bonds.
96
 The three-dimensional silica network contains
many linear chains of silica tetrahedra that are
able to move more easily at lower temperatures
than the atoms that are locked into the three-
dimensional structure of silica tetrahedra.

 This ease of movement is responsible for the

increased fluidity (decreased viscosity), lower
softening temperature, and increased thermal
expansion conferred by glass modifiers.

97
 Too high a modifier concentration, however,
reduces the chemical durability (resistance to attack
by water, acids, and alkalis) of the glass.

 If too many tetrahedra are disrupted, the glass may

crystallize (devitrify) during porcelain firing
operations.

 Hence, a balance between a suitable melting range

and good chemical durability must be maintained.

98
 Dental porcelains are classified according to
their firing temperatures:-

HIGH FUSING- 1300ºC

MEDIUM FUSING- 1101ºC-1300ºC
LOW FUSING- 850ºC-1100ºC
ULTRA-LOW FUSING- <850ºC

99
 The medium-fusing and high-fusing types are used
for the production of denture teeth.
 The low fusing and ultralow-fusing porcelains are
used for crown and bridge construction.
 Some of the ultralow fusing porcelains are used for
titanium and titanium alloys because of their low
contraction coefficients that closely match those of
these metals and because the low firing
temperatures reduce the risk for growth of the
metal oxide.

100
 some of these ultralow-fusing porcelains
contain enough leucite to raise their thermal
contraction coefficient as high as those of
conventional low-fusing porcelains.

 The potential advantages of ultralow-fusing

veneering ceramics are the reduction in
sintering times, decrease in sag deformation
of FPD frameworks, less thermal degradation
of ceramic firing ovens, and less wear of
opposing enamel surfaces.

101
 DENTAL CERAMICS
&
ITS RECENT
ADVANCEMENTS

102
ALL-CERAMIC RESTORATIONS
 Materials for all ceramics restoration use a wide
variety of crystalline phases as reinforcing agents
and contain up to 99% by volume of crystalline
phase.
 The nature, amount, and particle size distribution
of the crystalline phase directly influence the
mechanical and optical properties of material.
 This has led to a series of differing ceramic
structures available for dentistry, with some
examples are-

103
 THE FELSPATHIC PORCELAIN
 THE CASTABLE GLASSES
 THE ALUMINA BASED SYSTEMS OR
THE ALUMINA JACKET CROWNS
 PURE ALUMINA CORE-HEAT CURED
AFTER PRESSING
 THE GLASS-INFILTERATED ALUMINA
SYSTEM FOR CORE

104
 THE FELSPATHIC PORCELAINS
 Several summaries for the composition of dental
porcelain have been written.
 They cover the composition of felspathic
porcelain as a veneering porcelain in all-ceramic
and metal-ceramic crowns.
 They describe a history of modifying the basic
Potash Feldspar-Quartz-Kaolinite mix by the
removal of mullite and free quartz, while
increasing sodium oxide and alkaline earth
oxides as bivalent glass modifiers, to improve
translucent properties while trying to maintain
strength.

105
 Fluxing agents have also been added to
lower the melting temperatures and make
them easier to handle in the dental
laboratory.

 The K2O content was also varied to

accommodate the need to match the
coefficient of thermal expansion for metal
alloys used in metal-ceramic techniques.

106
 The felspathic porcelains used in all-ceramic
systems have coefficients of thermal expansion
ranging from 5.5 - 7.5 x 10-6/°C when used over
castable glass and alumina based core
materials, to 16 x 10-6/°C when used over the
newer pressed leucite systems.

107
The Leucite Systems
 Leucite has been widely used as a
constituent of dental ceramics to modify the
coefficient of thermal expansion.
 This is most important where the ceramic is
to be fused or baked onto metal.
 The recent introduction of the pressed leucite
reinforced ceramic system, IPS Empress,
has leucite in a different role.
 This material relies on an increased volume
of fine leucite particles to increase flexural
strength.

108
 Leucite is used as a reinforcing phase in
amounts varying from 35% to 55%.
 Ceramic ingots are pressed between 1150ºc
and 1180ºc (under a pressure of 0.3 to 0.4
Mpa) into a refractory mold made by the lost
wax technique.
 The temperature is held for about 20 minutes
in a specially designed automatic press
furnace.
 The final microstructure of these heat
pressed ceramics consists of leucite crystals,
1 to 5 micron, dispersed in glassy matrix.

109
 Similar versions using finely dispersed leucite
grains to increase toughness, strength and
modify wear patterns and rates to make them
similar to enamel wear rates are now
available for metal-ceramic restorations.

110
 THE CASTABLE AND
MACHINABLE GLASS
CERAMICS

 The first commercially available castable

ceramic material for dental use, Dicor, was
developed by Corning Glass Works and
marketed by Dentsply International.
 Dicor is a castable glass that is formed into an
inlay, facial veneer, or full-crown restoration by
a lost-wax casting process similar to that
employed for metals.

111
 After the glass casting core or coping is recovered,
the glass is sandblasted to remove residual casting
investment and the sprues are gently cut away.
 The glass is then covered by a protective
"embedment" material and subjected to a heat
treatment that causes microscopic platelike crystals
of crystalline material (mica) to grow within the
glass matrix.
 This crystal nucleation and crystal growth process is
called ceramming.

112
 Once the glass has been cerammed, it is fit
on the prepared dies, ground as necessary,
and then coated with veneering porcelain to
match the shape and appearance of adjacent
teeth.
 Dicor glass-ceramic contains about 55 vol%
of tetrasilicic fluormica crystals.

113
114
 Dicor glass-ceramic is capable of producing
surprisingly good aesthetics, perhaps
because of the "chameleon" effect, where
part of the color of the restoration is picked
up from the adjacent teeth as well as from
the tinted cements used for luting the
restorations.

115
 The ceramming process results in
increased strength and toughness,
increased resistance to abrasion, thermal
shock resistance, chemical durability, and
decreased translucency.

116
 Dicor MGC is a higher quality product that is
crystallized by the manufacturer and
provided as CAD-CAM blanks or ingots.
 The CAD-CAM ceramic Dicor MGC contains
70 vol% of tetrasilicic fluormica platelets,
which are approxi­mately 2 µm in diameter.

117
 THE ALUMINA BASED SYSTEMS
THE ALUMINA JACKET CROWNS
 The modern Aluminous Jacket Crown, probably
more commonly known as the Porcelain Jacket
Crown (PJC) was popularised in the mid 1960’s
by McLean.
 This report also points out the importance for the
use of alumina in dental ceramics and how it
modifies the flaw systems at the surface and
within the ceramic.
 The aluminous porcelains reported by McLean
are also very prone to strength degradation when
they contain porosity.

118
PURE ALUMINA CORE-HEAT CURED
AFTER PRESSING

 The Nobel Biocare company from Sweden

have introduced two systems that essentially
use a system of pressing alumina onto a metal
die, removing the pressed shape from the die
and then sintering it.
 One system is used to make alumina profiles
that are then used as cores to build up
ceramic superstructures for single tooth
implants, CeraOne®, & the second is to make
cores for conventional crowns, a process
known as Procera®.

119
 Unlike the other dental ceramic materials,
there is no glassy phase present between
the particles.
 Feldspathic veneering porcelains such as
Vitadur Alpha@ & Duceram® are then
fired onto this alumina core to provide the
colour and form for the restoration.

120
 Heat pressing classically helps avoid large
pores and promotes good dispersion of
the crystalline phase within the glassy
matrix.
 The mechanical properties of many
ceramics systems are maximized with
high density and small crystal size.

121
Lithium Disilicate-Based Materials
 These materials contain lithium
disilicate[Li2Si2O5] as a major crystalline phase.
 They are heat pressed in the 890ºto 920ºC
temperature rang.
 The heat pressed restoration is later veneered
with ceramics of matching thermal expansion.
 The final microstructure consist of prismatic
lithium disilicate crystals(0.5 to 4 microns long)
dispersed in glossy matrix.
 The main advantage of these ceramics is their
good flexural strength(350 Mpa) and fracture
toughness (3.2 Mpa).

122
Lithium Phosphate-Based ceramics

 This ceramic contains lithium phosphate (Li3PO4)

as a major crystalline phase which can be heat
pressed on to a zirconia endodontic post.
 The heating temperature is about 900ºC where
pressing can be done in a conventional heat
pressing furnace.
 The glossy matrix consist of spherical lithium
phosphate crystals uniformly dispersed.
 The main advantage of this ceramics is good
aesthetics and high strength (but higher opacity)
and the short processing time.

123
 GLASS-INFILTERATED ALUMINA
SYSTEM FOR CORE

 During the 1980’s, Dr. Michael Sadoun and Vita

Zahnfabrik, developed a slip casting system
using fine grained alumina.
 The cast alumina was sintered and then
infiltrated with a Lanthana based glass.
 This provided a glass infiltrated alumina core
(In-Ceram®) on which a felspathic ceramic
could be baked to provide the functional form
and aesthetic component of the restoration.

124
125
 The system also has the greatest versatility
for dental use of any metal free ceramic
restorative.
 In-Ceram has the highest flexural strength
and fracture toughness of all the currently
available dental ceramic systems available
to most commercial dental laboratories.

126
 The driving force for these developments has
been the immense difference in reliability
between metal-ceramic systems and all-ceramic
systems and a public perception that metal-free
restorations are more aesthetic.

127
Spinel-and Zirconia-Based Materials

 Two modified ceramic composition for this

technique have been recently introduced.
 One contain a magnesium spinel(MgAl2O4) as
the major crystalline phase with traces of alpha
alumina,which improves the translucency of the
final restoration.
 The second material contains tetragonal
zirconia and alumina.
 The spinel bound ceramic has a lower modulus
of rupture than the alumina based materials,
whereas the zirconia-based material has a
reported flexural strength neighboring 600 Mpa.

128
129
CAD/CAM ceramics
 CAD-CAM (computer assisted design-
computer assisted machining) technology
is used to produce restorations in one
office visit.
 Its was first introduced in germany in 1986.
 After the tooth is prepared, the preparation
is optically scanned and the images is
computerized.

130
131
 The restoration is designed with the aid of
the computer.
 The restoration is then machined from
ceramic blocks by a computer-controlled
milling machine.
 The milling process takes only a few minutes.
 Although convenient, the CAD-CAM system
is very expensive and its marginal accuracy
is poor, with gap value of 100 to 150 microns.
Bonding of the restoration with resin cements
may help compensate for some of the
problems of poor marginal fit.

132
133
134
 The disadvantages of this technique include
the need for costly equipments, the lack of
computer-controlled processing support for
occlusal adjustments, and the technique-
sensitive nature of surface imaging that is
required for the prepared teeth.
 The advantages includes negligible porosity
levels in the CAD-CAM core ceramics, the
freedom from making an impression, reduced
assistant time with impression procedures,
the need for only a single appointment (with
ceram system), and good patient
acceptance.

135
ALL CERAMIC CERCON BRIDGE

136
OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF
DENTAL CERAMICS
 Color matching is a critical problem in replacing
portion of natural teeth.
 Porcelain, being partially amorphous in structure,
does not resemble crystalline enamel completely.
 As a result, various kinds of light are reflected
and absorbed in different manners by tooth tissue
and porcelain, and restorations viewed from an
angle may not appear the same as they do when
viewed from the front.
 The cementing medium is an important factor in
the final appearance of an all ceramic
restorations.

137
 Because of its opacity, an all ceramic
restoration may be cemented with a wide
range of luting agents, but not with resin-
modified GIC.
 However, more translucent all ceramic
restoration such as a leucite-reinforced heat
pressed crown or veneer, or a machined
inlay or veneer, usually requires the use of
translucent resin luting agents that are
available in different shades.
 The range of colors of natural teeth is much
greater than the range available in a kit of
premixed porcelain, modifier porcelains are
also supplied for adjustments.

138
 These modifiers are strongly pigmented porcelain
to the opaque and body porcelain usually supplied
in blue, yellow, pink, orange, brown gray.
 The dental technician may add the modifier to the
opaque and the body porcelain during the building
of the crown.
 Extrinsic surface staining is another method of
changing the color of a dental porcelain crown,
involves the application of highly pigmented
glazes.
 The main disadvantage of surface staining are a
lowered durability and the reduction of
translucency.

139
Translucency

 It’s another critical property of dental ceramics.

 The translucency of opaque, dentin (body), and
enamel (incisal) porcelain varies considerably.
 Opaque porcelain have very low translucency,
allows them to mask metal subsurface structure.
 Dentin porcelain translucency value ranges
between 18%-38%.
 Enamel porcelain have the highest values of
translucency, ranging from between 45%-50%.

140
 The translucency of material for all ceramic
restoration varies with nature of reinforcing
crystalline phase.
 Alumina- and zirconia-based systems are
opaque, whereas leucite- reinforced systems
are more translucent.
 The translucency of spinel-based systems is
comparable with that of lithium disilicate-
based systems and intermediate between
alumina-based and leucite-reinforced
systems.

141
 Dental enamel is fluorescent under
ultraviolet light, uranium oxide had been
added to produce fluorescence with
porcelain.
 However, because of the low but
detectable radioactivity of uranium, newer
formulations contain are earth oxides
(cerium oxide) to produce fluorescence.

142
TYPES OF DENTAL
RESTORATIONS
The types of restorations include:
 SIMPLE FELDSPATIC VENEER

 PORCELAIN JACKET CROWNS AND BRIDGES

 METAL-CERAMICS CROWNS AND BRIDGES

 INLAYS AND ONLAYS

 IMPLANT SUPERSTRUCTURES.

143
SIMPLE FELDSPATIC
VENEER

 The simple veneers are essentially an

enamel replacement used mainly for
aesthetic reasons on anterior teeth.
 They are approximately 0.5 mm thick and
are “bonded” to the tooth using a dental
composite resin.

144
 They are very reliant on the mechanical
integrity of the supporting tooth to provide
enough stiffness to prevent loads flexing the
restored tooth and exceeding the critical
strain limit of the ceramic veneer.
 In general, dentists are not aware of the
flexibility range for teeth and these
restorations are often inappropriately used.

145
PORCELAIN VENEERS

146
 PORCELAIN JACKET CROWNS
AND BRIDGES
 Porcelain Jacket Crowns are a more extensive
restoration.
 These are used to replace virtually all the enamel
component and some dentine.
 This means that they are almost always supported by
dentine in a vital tooth, or cast gold in a non-vital tooth.
 They are at least 1 mm thick and depending on the
system used are either made from a single material, as
found in Dicor and IPS Empress crowns or are bilaminar
such as In-Ceram® and Procera Crowns.

147
 In-Ceram® and Procera® use variations of
alumina as a toughened and high strength
underlying core to support feldspathic
veneering porcelain which gives the final
shape and aesthetic attributes required for
the restoration.
 In-Ceram® and Procera® are also the only
systems that can be used to construct three
unit bridges, where missing tooth is replaced
using the adjacent teeth as abutments.

148
METAL-CERAMICS CROWNS
AND BRIDGES
 Metal-ceramic restorations as described earlier use an
alloy, originally based on gold, to form a tough and rigid
base for the veneering ceramic.
 This ceramic usually contains leucite as a coefficient of
thermal expansion modifier to reduce stress between
the metal and ceramic during the firing process.
 The modern versions are now using finer and denser
dispersions of leucite to improve mechanical properties
for wear and flexural strength.

149
INLAYS AND ONLAYS
 Inlays and onlays are made from a
variety of the systems , with no real
preference, although systems containing
dispersions of leucite seem to be
gaining ground.

150
IMPLANT
SUPERSTRUCTURES
 Implant superstructures can be made using
the metal-ceramic systems or the alumina
based ceramic systems.

151
Ceramics in Modern Dentistry

 Current applications of ceramics in

dentistry include
 1) Fillings
 2) Crowns & Veneers
 3) Implants
 4) Dental Brackets

152
Fillings

 Traditionally filling have been made from

silver/tin/mercury amalgams.
 However, resin based filling materials are
rapidly gaining in popularity for health and
aesthetic reasons.

 These resins are usually filled with 35-85%

ceramic fillers such as silicate glasses,
colloidal silica or quartz.

153
 Despite the advantages of using ceramic
filled resins, these materials may be
susceptible to wear when applied to
chewing surfaces.
 For this reason, all-ceramic inlays, onlays
and crowns are also gaining in popularity.
 CAD-CAM systems are also becoming
more popular allow dentists to machine
dental ceramic blanks to suit individual
patients and fill them in the same visit.

154
Materials that are suitable for this
application include:

 Leucite reinforced feldspathic porcelain.

 Alumina with continuously interconnected
porosity, infiltrated with lanthanum
aluminosilicate glass, after machining to
provide translucency.
 Glass infiltrated porous spinel.

 Glass infiltrated porous zirconia.

155
Crowns and Veneers
 Porcelain fused to metal (PFM) materials
constitute about 75% all crowns in a market.
 The porcelain used is a feldspathic porcelain.
 The porcelain contains varying amounts of
crystallised leucite.
 The amount of crystallised leucite influences
properties such as strength and thermal
expansion.

156
 Thermal expansion is critical in the
manufacture PFM implants to avoid cracking
of the ceramic, which could lead to failure
during manufacture or in operation.

 PFM materials are also used for veneers to

cover damaged front teeth and crowns,
although ceramic cores are being used in
some crowns.
 All ceramic crowns are normally coated with
porcelain so that colour and translucency can
be matched.

157
Dental Implants
 Dental implants are used as an alternative to bridges
where a tooth has been lost or removed.
 These are also made of PFM, where a biocompatible
metal post made out a material such as titanium is
anchored into the jaw bone and the porcelain crown
is affixed to the post.

 The metal post may also be coated with

hydroxyapatite to aid bone bonding and rapid
osseointegration.
 Bioglass posts are sometimes used for this purpose
for the same reason.

158
IMPLANTS

159
160
Orthodontic Brackets

 The most recent use for ceramics in

dentistry is orthodontic brackets.
 The development and demand for these
items has been driven solely by aesthetics.
 Polycrystalline alumina is the material of
choice in this application.

161
162