Quantitative Assessment of Dental Prosthetic Fluorescence

Abstract

Subject. Ceramics based on zirconia can fluoresce through the additional application of fluorescent glazes, fluorescent dyes, as well. To date, there are no methods for assessing the fluorescence of dental materials used in prosthetics.
 The aim –– Development of a method for quantitative determination of the fluorescence intensity of dental prosthetic materials.
 Methodology. The study was conducted in the laboratory of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University. Fluorescence was excited by an ultraviolet lamp. The fluorescence spectra of the samples were measured using the Ocean Optics fiber optic spectrofluorometer. Ceramic billets made of zirconia "Ziceram T" A2 of domestic production without and with the staining of fluorescent glaze "Ivocolor fluo", as well as natural teeth were used as samples for patients.
 Results. Samples of domestic zirconia acquire fluorescent properties after applying and sintering the fluorescent glaze. The varied number of layers of the applied glaze explains why the fluorescence intensity increases. The authors compare the fluorescence spectra of two natural teeth with the spectra of zirconia samples with two and three layers of glaze. The spectra coincide well with each other in pairs. A fluorescence spectrum that is similar to one of the natural tooth samples can thus be achieved by varying the number of glaze layers.
 Conclusions. The analysis of the fluorescence spectra of samples of zirconia from domestic production after application and sintering of fluorescent glaze shows a similar fluorescence spectrum to samples of natural teeth.