S Wuttiphan | PubMed Health

PubMed1999

Damage modes in dental layer structures.

Natural teeth (enamel/dentin) and most restorations are essentially layered structures. This study examines the hypothesis that coating thickness and coating/substrate mismatch are key factors in the determination of contact-induced damage in clinically relevant bilayer composites. Accordingly, we study crack patterns in two model "coating/substrate" bilayer systems conceived to simulate crown and tooth structures, at opposite extremes of elastic/plastic mismatch: porcelain on glass-infiltrated alumina ("soft/hard"); and glass-ceramic on resin composite ("hard/soft"). Hertzian contacts are used to investigate the evolution of fracture damage in the coating layers, as functions of contact load and coating thickness. The crack patterns differ radically in the two bilayer systems: In the porcelain coatings, cone cracks initiate at the coating top surface; in the glass-ceramic coatings, cone cracks again initiate at the top surface, but additional, upward-extending transverse cracks initiate at the internal coating/substrate interface, with the latter dominant. The substrate is thereby shown to have a profound influence on the damage evolution to ultimate failure in the bilayer systems. However, the cracks are highly stabilized in both systems, with wide ranges between the loads to initiate first cracking and to cause final failure, implying damage-tolerant structures. Finite element modeling is used to evaluate the tensile stresses responsible for the different crack types. The clinical relevance of these observations is considered.

Aluminum Oxide↗

PubMed1998

Role of microstructure on contact damage and strength degradation of micaceous glass-ceramics.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the hypothesis that microstructure plays a critical role in the accumulation of strength-degrading damage in dental ceramics. A series of micaceous glass-ceramics crystallized from a common glass composition, using heat treatments to increase the diameter and aspect ratio of mica platelets, is used as a model ceramic system. METHODS: Damage modes are investigated by Hertzian contact testing. Four-point bend tests on indented specimens quantify the influence of single-cycle and multi-cycle damage on strength. RESULTS: Two competing damage modes are observed: fracture, by tensile-induced cone cracking at the macroscopic level; and quasi-plastic deformation, by shear-induced yield at the microscopic level. The quasi-plastic mode becomes more dominant as the microstructures become coarser and more elongate. Bend tests show severe strength losses in the finer grain structures where cone cracking dominates, but relatively small losses in the coarser grain structures where quasi-plasticity dominates. Whereas natural strengths decline with increasing crystallization temperature, the strengths after indentation damage attain a maximum at intermediate crystallization temperatures. Multiple-cycle contact loading reduces strengths even further, and at relatively low indentation loads, indicating susceptibility to fatigue. Finite element modelling is carried out to evaluate the stress components that drive the damage modes. SIGNIFICANCE: Microstructure is confirmed to be a controlling factor in determining the nature and degree of strength-impairing damage accumulation in dental ceramics. The Hertzian test provides a means of characterizing such damage in the context of clinical function.

Aluminum Silicates↗