The Ideal Dental Material

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Amalgam ( silver fillings) is produced by mixing mercury along with silver, tin, copper, and zinc. Even though mercury is a toxic material when bounded to other metals it becomes stable and thus can be used in dental applications. The addition of Silver provides strength, Tin for workability, Copper for corrosion resistance and Zinc to prevent oxidation. One of the advantages of using silver fillings as a dental material is its durability. These fillings are able to last 10-15 years, which usually is much longer than other types of tooth fillings. The strength of this filling is strong enough to resist wear due to chewing forces. This is especially seen when the filling has good bulk strength. However it could be easily chipped on the edges. Therefore it can be said that this filling has good biocompatibility. The disadvantages of silver fillings is when it comes to aesthetics. The silver color of the fillings does not match the appearance of the teeth making it not appealing to the eye. In addition the filling can cause discoloration to the surrounding teeth by making them appear a light shade of grey. When drinking cold or hot liquids the teeth can expand or contract. The filling will expand and contract as well making the filling more likely to crack. Finally a few amount people may have allergic reactions to the mercury found in amalgam.
Tooth colored composites are a mixture of submicron glass filters and acrylic that form a tooth colored restoration. The main advantage of composites are seen when mentioning aesthetics. The color of the fillings can be matched to that of the tooth. This is why they are used in the anterior teeth. A unique feature of this filling is its ability to chemically bond to the tooth struct...

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...der is the compressive strength. This is important because most of the mastication forces act upon compression. You can use this test to see which dental material is able to resist the most occlusal forces. Another property to consider is called flexural strength. This is defined as the ability of a material to bend before it breaks. It is important to have a high flexural strength when making dental materials because the materials must be able to be repeatedly bent under the action of chewing.

To conclude an ideal dental material will be required to consider both aesthetic and functional properties. The functional properties include having high elasiticity , strength, high tensile strength, high compressive strength, and high flexural strength. Along with these properties it is important for the material to be nontoxic and biocompatible with the oral cavity.

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