Biomaterial Database

Microwave processing of a dental ceramic used in computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing. 2015

Martin Pendola, and Subrata Saha

Because of their favorable mechanical properties and natural esthetics, ceramics are widely used in restorative dentistry. The conventional ceramic sintering process required for their use is usually slow, however, and the equipment has an elevated energy consumption. Sintering processes that use microwaves have several advantages compared to regular sintering: shorter processing times, lower energy consumption, and the capacity for volumetric heating. The objective of this study was to test the mechanical properties of a dental ceramic used in computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) after the specimens were processed with microwave hybrid sintering. Density, hardness, and bending strength were measured. When ceramic specimens were sintered with microwaves, the processing times were reduced and protocols were simplified. Hardness was improved almost 20% compared to regular sintering, and flexural strength measurements suggested that specimens were approximately 50% stronger than specimens sintered in a conventional system. Microwave hybrid sintering may preserve or improve the mechanical properties of dental ceramics designed for CAD/CAM processing systems, reducing processing and waiting times.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008872	Microwaves	That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum from the UHF (ultrahigh frequency) radio waves and extending into the INFRARED RAYS frequencies.	EHF Waves,Extremely High Frequency Radio Waves,Micro Wave,Micro Waves,Ultrahigh Frequency Waves,Microwave Radiation,EHF Wave,Micro Waves,Microwave,Microwave Radiations,Radiation, Microwave,Ultrahigh Frequency Wave,Wave, EHF,Wave, Micro,Wave, Ultrahigh Frequency,Waves, Micro
D003776	Dental Porcelain	A type of porcelain used in dental restorations, either jacket crowns or inlays, artificial teeth, or metal-ceramic crowns. It is essentially a mixture of particles of feldspar and quartz, the feldspar melting first and providing a glass matrix for the quartz. Dental porcelain is produced by mixing ceramic powder (a mixture of quartz, kaolin, pigments, opacifiers, a suitable flux, and other substances) with distilled water. (From Jablonski's Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992)	Porcelain,Porcelain, Dental,Dental Porcelains,Porcelains,Porcelains, Dental
D003799	Dental Stress Analysis	The description and measurement of the various factors that produce physical stress upon dental restorations, prostheses, or appliances, materials associated with them, or the natural oral structures.	Analyses, Dental Stress,Analysis, Dental Stress,Stress Analyses, Dental,Stress Analysis, Dental,Dental Stress Analyses
D006244	Hardness	The mechanical property of material that determines its resistance to force. HARDNESS TESTS measure this property.	Hardnesses
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013314	Stress, Mechanical	A purely physical condition which exists within any material because of strain or deformation by external forces or by non-uniform thermal expansion; expressed quantitatively in units of force per unit area.	Mechanical Stress,Mechanical Stresses,Stresses, Mechanical
D013696	Temperature	The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.	Temperatures
D013718	Tensile Strength	The maximum stress a material subjected to a stretching load can withstand without tearing. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed, p2001)	Strength, Tensile,Strengths, Tensile,Tensile Strengths
D017076	Computer-Aided Design	The use of computers for designing and/or manufacturing of anything, including drugs, surgical procedures, orthotics, and prosthetics.	CAD-CAM,Computer-Aided Manufacturing,Computer-Assisted Design,Computer-Assisted Manufacturing,Computer Aided Design,Computer Aided Manufacturing,Computer Assisted Design,Computer Assisted Manufacturing,Computer-Aided Designs,Computer-Assisted Designs,Design, Computer-Aided,Design, Computer-Assisted,Designs, Computer-Aided,Designs, Computer-Assisted,Manufacturing, Computer-Aided,Manufacturing, Computer-Assisted