Dental ceramics are increasingly prolific as restorative materials because of their esthetic appearance and their intrinsic wear resistance, thermal insulation, and biocompatibility. Unfortunately, the currently available dental ceramics are brittle in comparison to dental alloys. This lack of fracture resistance compromises their strength and reliability, resulting in decreased lifetime expectancy. Previous strategies for increasing the lifetimes of dental ceramics have focused on improving the initial strength and tolerance to future damage; however, without a mechanism for repair, damage accumulates, and failure is inevitable. In contrast, natural materials have relatively low resistance to mechanical damage, but their usefulness is maintained over time by healing any damage that is sustained before it accumulates. The overall objective of this project is study self-healing mechanisms by which dental ceramics may exhibit mechanical fatigue resistance and increased longevity. This objective will be accomplished through incorporation of smectite clay particles in hydrothermal glass to form ceramic matrix composites, which will close cracks through the swelling of reinforcing particles. The experimental materials will be designed for use in esthetic, all-ceramic dental restorations. A commercially available low fusing ceramic (Duceram LFC) will be used as the control material for investigation of the following hypotheses: l) moisture- activated swelling of clay particles is a source of increased fracture resistance, 2) a maximum mean free path of 45 mum between reinforcing particles acts as a threshold for increased fracture resistance, 3) a mean reinforcing particle size smaller than 0.39 mum will result in materials with greater translucency than currently available ceramic core materials, 4) smectite clay-reinforced porcelains will exhibit similar or superior biocompatibility compared to unreinforced dental porcelain, and 5) smectite clay-reinforced porcelains will exhibit hardness and abrasive potential lower than those of unmodified dental I porcelain. These efforts may elucidate the mechanisms of fatigue failure and may result in materials that will fill the public demand for long-lasting, esthetic dental restorations.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DE013358-03
Application #
6701323
Study Section
Oral Biology and Medicine Subcommittee 1 (OBM)
Program Officer
Hunziker, Rosemarie
Project Start
2002-01-01
Project End
2006-01-31
Budget Start
2004-01-01
Budget End
2006-01-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$181,392
Indirect Cost
Name
Texas A&M University
Department
Dentistry
Type
Schools of Dentistry
DUNS #
141582986
City
College Station
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77845
Borba, Márcia; Duan, Yuanyuan; Griggs, Jason A et al. (2015) Effect of ceramic infrastructure on the failure behavior and stress distribution of fixed partial dentures. Dent Mater 31:413-22
Joshi, Gaurav V; Duan, Yuanyuan; Della Bona, Alvaro et al. (2014) Contributions of stress corrosion and cyclic fatigue to subcritical crack growth in a dental glass-ceramic. Dent Mater 30:884-90
McMurphy, Timothy B; Harris, Christopher A; Griggs, Jason A (2014) Accuracy and precision of fractal dimension measured on model surfaces. Dent Mater 30:302-7
Borba, Márcia; Cesar, Paulo F; Griggs, Jason A et al. (2013) Step-stress analysis for predicting dental ceramic reliability. Dent Mater 29:913-8
Joshi, Gaurav V; Duan, Yuanyuan; Neidigh, John et al. (2013) Fatigue testing of electron beam-melted Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy for dental implants. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 101:124-30
Joshi, Gaurav V; Duan, Yuanyuan; Della Bona, Alvaro et al. (2013) Fatigue loading and R-curve behavior of a dental glass-ceramic with multiple flaw distributions. Dent Mater 29:1123-31
Scherrer, Susanne S; Cattani-Lorente, Maria; Vittecoq, Eric et al. (2011) Fatigue behavior in water of Y-TZP zirconia ceramics after abrasion with 30 ?m silica-coated alumina particles. Dent Mater 27:e28-42
Borba, Marcia; de Araujo, Maico D; de Lima, Erick et al. (2011) Flexural strength and failure modes of layered ceramic structures. Dent Mater 27:1259-66
Borba, Marcia; Cesar, Paulo F; Griggs, Jason A et al. (2011) Adaptation of all-ceramic fixed partial dentures. Dent Mater 27:1119-26
Borba, Marcia; de Araujo, Maico D; Fukushima, Karen A et al. (2011) Effect of the microstructure on the lifetime of dental ceramics. Dent Mater 27:710-21

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