Over the past forty years, the technological evolution of ceramics for dental applications has been remarkable, as new materials and processing techniques are steadily being introduced. The improvement in both strength and toughness has made it possible to expand the range of indications to long-span fixed partial prostheses, implant abutments and implants. The present review provides a state of the art of ceramics for dental applications.

The combination of PVS impression method and press fabrication technique produced the most accurate 3D and 2D marginal fits.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cerium and bismuth coloring salts solutions on the microstructure, color, flexural strength, and aging resistance of tetragonal zirconia for dental applications (3Y-TZP). Cylindrical blanks were sectioned into disks (2-mm thick, 25-mm in diameter) and colored by immersion in cerium acetate (CA), cerium chloride (CC), or bismuth chloride (BC) solutions at 1, 5, or 10 wt %. The density, elastic constants, and biaxial flexural strength were determined after sintering at 1350 degrees C. The crystalline phases were analyzed by X-ray diffraction before and after aging in autoclave for 10 h. The results showed that the mean density of the colored groups was comparable with that of the control group (6.072 +/- 0.008 g/cm(3)). XRD confirmed the presence of tetragonal zirconia with a slight increase in lattice parameters for the colored groups. A perceptible color difference was obtained for all groups (DeltaE* = 2.57 +/- 0.48 to 14.22 +/- 0.98), compared with the control. The mean grain size increased significantly for the groups colored with CC or CA at 10 wt %, compared with the control group (0.318 +/- 0.029 mm). The mean biaxial strength of CA1%, CA5%, and BC1% groups was not significantly different from that of the control group (1087.5 +/- 173.3 MPa). The flexural strength of all other groups decreased linearly with increasing concentration for both cerium salts (860.7 +/- 172 to 274.4 +/- 67.3 MPa). The resistance to low temperature degradation was not affected by the coloring process. Coloring with cerium or bismuth salts produced perceptible color differences even at the lowest concentrations. A decrease in flexural strength at the higher concentrations was attributed to an increase in open porosity.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate microstructural and crystallographic phase changes after grinding 3Y-TZP dental ceramics. Ceramic blanks were sintered according to manufacturer's recommendations and divided into four groups: (A) as-sintered control, (B) diamond-ground manually under water, (C) ground and polished, and (D) ground and annealed at 1000 degrees C for 1 h. Bulk specimens were analyzed by X-ray diffraction to characterize the crystalline phases. The microstructure was investigated by SEM. XRD analyses showed that the control group and the group that was ground and annealed contained only tetragonal zirconia. However, after grinding or after grinding followed by polishing, rhombohedral zirconia and strained tetragonal zirconia were present, without any detectable amount of monoclinic zirconia. Annealing led to the disappearance of both residual lattice strain and the rhombohedral phase. The microstructure of the ground and polished specimens was characterized by significant residual surface damage associated with grain pullout to a depth of about 20 microm. This type of damage could have an impact on the long-term fatigue behavior of 3Y-TZP.

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