An Enamel Based Biopolymer Prosthesis for Dental Treatment with the Proper Bond Strength and Hardness and Biosafety.

Morakot Piemjai,Patcharee Santiwarapan

doi:10.3390/polym14030538

Abstract

Although dental prosthesis materials such as metal alloys, ceramics, and cured resin composite have long been utilized to restore teeth, their bond strength and hardness values are not well matched to human enamel. Prosthesis detachment and opposing enamel wear are major concerns in restorative dentistry. An experimental biopolymer, hybridized enamel, was synthesized and utilized as a dental prosthesis to compare hardness and tensile bond strength (TBS) with those of commercial materials. Vickers hardness (VHN) with a 100 g loading for 15 s at eight indentations on each specimen (n = 20) was measured. TBSs between prostheses and two types of resin luting agents (n = 10), Super-Bond C&B and All-Bond2 + Duo-Link, were tested. Fractured surfaces and the luting resin-prosthesis interface were examined under a stereomicroscope or a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Statistically significant differences in the TBS and hardness were revealed (p < 0.05). The experimental biopolymer provided a hardness value comparable with human enamel and the highest TBS for both luting agent types. The SEM micrograph demonstrated a honeycomb-like pattern interface between the experimental biopolymer and luting resin. These results suggest that this experimental biopolymer may be a better restorative material to protect from natural enamel loss from tooth reduction or attrition and prevent prosthesis detachment during mastication.

Highlights

There are four main types of materials used for fabricating dental prostheses—ceramics, metal alloys, polymers, and composites
The major problems that contemporary materials encounter are their hardness and reduced ability to adhere to bonding or luting adhesives compared with natural human enamel
The experimental biopolymer had a microhardness value close to that of enamel when compared with the other materials

Summary

Introduction

There are four main types of materials used for fabricating dental prostheses—ceramics, metal alloys, polymers, and composites. These materials are continually being developed to obtain ideal properties for dental restorative materials. The major problems that contemporary materials encounter are their hardness and reduced ability to adhere to bonding or luting adhesives compared with natural human enamel. These factors affect tooth wear, abrasion or attrition, and prosthesis detachment during function which are still major factors in causing clinical failures and the short-term replacement of dental restorations [2,3]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion