Nanostructured Zirconia-Based Ceramics and Composites in Dentistry: A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to review the current knowledge on the development of nanostructured zirconia-based ceramics and composites suitable for application in dentistry. Isi Web of Science, Science Direct, Scientific.net databases, and Google were searched electronically for the period of 1980 to the present, matching the keywords “nano” with the keywords: “Zirconia, ZrO2, Y-TZP, and dental, dentistry”. A total of 74 papers were found, with the majority coming from Asia, indicating a more active scientific interest on the topic in this geographic area, followed by Europe, South America, and North America. The research shows, even though the scientific activity on nanostructured ceramics was intense in the last fifteen years, the development of fully dense zirconia-based nanoceramics is yet at an initial stage, most of all from the point of view of the clinical applications. It has been demonstrated that nanostructured ceramics can show improved properties because of the reduction of the grain size to the nanoscale. This is also true for zirconia-based nanoceramics, where some improvements in mechanical, optical, as well as resistance in low-temperature degradation have been observed. Potential applications of this class of material in the dental field are discussed, summarizing the results of the latest scientific research.

Dimensional Changes of Yttria‐stabilized Zirconia under Different Preparation Designs and Sintering Protocols

“…The mechanism of deformation in ceramics occurs either by dislocation motion or by grain boundary sliding 19 . In nanoceramics of a grain size above ∼100 nm, the main deformation mechanism is derived by dislocation motion, while for ultra‐fine nano grain sizes (<50 nm) the deformation mechanism is derived by grain boundary sliding 19 . The possible mechanism that could explain the observed distortion of zirconia material at 1520°C and very low stress would likely be slow diffusional creep.…”

“…Diffusion along zirconia grain boundaries causes mass redistribution of yttria leading to distortions. Yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) exhibits superplastic strain rate 34 times faster than sub‐micrometer grained YSZ when measured at the same temperature 19 . Dominguez‐Rodrigues et al explained the superplasticity mechanism of pure Y‐TZP over all the ranges of temperatures, stress, grain sizes and surrounding atmosphere by grain boundary sliding accommodated by diffusional 21 .…”

Chemical- and Mechanical-Induced Lubrication Mechanisms during Hot Rolling of Titanium Alloys Using a Mixed Graphene-Incorporating Lubricant

“…The iron oxide scale locates mainly inside the wear marks, but there are still some iron oxide scales distribute outside the wear mark, which are the wear debris produced from the upper testing ball during friction. In the wear marks, the Zr element also presents similar distribution tendency with P and Na, which shows that ZrO2 nano particles possess some lubricating performance during hot tribological process [42,43]. The composition of graphene is not detected, which means that the graphene is exhausted at this temperature.…”

Harnessing biomolecules for bioinspired dental biomaterials

“…200 The growing demand of zirconia implants, and the prevalence of restorative abutment made of this tough and aesthetic ceramic, motivates future development of biomolecule coatings for them. [201][202][203][204] 3.1.1.2 Laminin-derived peptides. Oral keratinocytes directly apposing teeth (''directly attached cells'') form a basement membrane (BM) compositionally unique to any other BM in the human body: rich in laminin332 (a heterotrimeric glycoprotein 205 ) serving as an integrin ligand to form hemidesmosomes (HDs) 206 and missing common BM proteins like collagen IV and perlecans (proteoglycans that crosslink many ECM components).…”