History of Dental Ceramics

By Mohamed Mahmoud Abdul-Monem

• Candidate materials for artifical teeth during the 18th century :

• 1)Human teeth• 2)Animal teeth• 3)Ivory• 4)Porcelain

• Human teeth became scarce and expensive.• Animal teeth were unstable in the corrosive

agents in saliva .• Elephant ivory contained pores that stained

easily .• Hippopotamus ivory was more desirable.

John Greenwood (1789) carved teeth from hippo ivory for complete dentures he made for George Washington.

In 1774 A.D ,French dentist Nicholas Dubois de Chemant and his assistant Alexis Duchateau made the first successful porcelain dentures for Duchateau being tired of his stained and malodorous ivory denture.

• Dubois continuously improved porcelain formulations and was awarded French and British patents.

• In 1808 A.D,individually formed porcelain teeth that contained platinum pins were produced in Paris by Giuseppangleo Fonzi

• In 1879 A.D ,C.M Richmond resolved the retention problem encountered between porcelain crowns and posts commonly made of wood by fusing porcelain to a platinum post (Richmond crown)

• In 1882 A.D ,glass inlays were introduced by Herbst with crushed glass frit fired in molds made of plaster and asbestos.

• In 1886 ,Charles Land introduced the first feldspathic porcelain inlays and crowns by combining burnished platinum foil as a substructure with high controlled heat of a gas furnace .

• 1903,Charles Land patened first ceramic crowns (all porcelain jacket crowns)

• A noteworthy development occurred in the 1950s with addition of leucite to porcelain that elevated COTE to allow their fusion to certain gold alloys to form crowns and bridges by Abraham Weinstein

• 1963 , Vita Zahnfabrik introduced the first commercial porcelain intended for PFMs.

• In 1980s , a shrink free all-ceramic crown system and a castable glass cermaic system were introduced and lead to a new interest in all-ceramic restorations.

• In 1987, Mormann and Brandestini introduced a prototype machine that would capture a 3-D image of a prepared tooth.

• They used 3-D design software to develop a proposed restoration and then directed the computer-aided milling of inlays and onlays from solid blocks of aesthetic, filled-glass ceramics (CEREC I)

• In-ceram Alumina was first introduced in 1989, and was the first all-ceramic system available for single unit restorations and 3-unit anterior FPDs.

• IPS e.max Press® (Ivoclar Vivadent), which was introduced in 2005.

IPS Empress CAD

IPS emax ZirCAD

Year Dentist Achievement

1774 A.D Nicholas Dubois de Chemant First porcelain dentures

1808 Giuseppangleo Fonzi Porcelain teeth with platinum pins

1879 C.M Richmond Richmond Crown

1882 Herbest Glass inlays

1886 Charles Land Porcelain inlays and crowns

1903 Charles land All porcelain “jacket” crowns

1950s Abraham Weinstein Addition of leucite to porcelain

1963 Vita Zahnfabrik First commercially available porcelain for PFM

1980S Shrink free all ceramicsCastable glass ceramics

1987 Mormann and Brandestini CEREC 1

1989 Vita IN Ceram Alumina

1997 Sirona CEREC 2

2000 Sirona CEREC 3

2005 Ivoclar Vivadent IPS emax Press

Dental ceramics

• Predominantly glass materials• Particle filled glasses• Polycrystalline ceramics

Predominantly glass ceramics

• Mimic optical properties of enamel and dentin• No regular pattern(amorphous)• Feldspar +silica+alumina

Particle filled glass

Filler particles are added to the base glass composition to improve mechanical properties and to control optical effects such as opalescence, color, and opacity.

Examples : • Leucite• alumina

Polycrystalline ceramics

• Polycrystalline ceramics have no glassy components; all of the atoms are densely packed into regular arrays that are much more difficult to drive a crack through than atoms in the less dense and irregular network found in glasses.

• polycrystalline ceramics are generally much tougher and stronger than glassy ceramics.

Uses of Dental ceramics

• Veneers• Crowns • Bridges• Inlays• Onlays• Posts and cores• Orthodontic brackets• Implants• Denture teeth

Orthodontic ceramic brackets

Zirconia implants

References

• J R Kelly, P Benetti . Ceramic materials in dentistry: Historical evolution and current practice . Australian Dental Journal .2011;56:84-96

• J R kelly et al.Ceramics in dentistry:Historical roots and current prespectives .Journal of prosthetic dentistry.1996;75:18-32

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