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Microstructure analysis of dental castings used in fixed dental prostheses—a simple method for quality control

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the microstructural quality of noble alloy castings from commercial dental laboratories using the wiping–etching method as a simple method for quality control. In total, 240 castings from two noble alloys (AuAgCuPt and AuPtZn) were taken from a day's production of five different dental laboratories. The casting quality was evaluated by determining the grain size and by assessing the number and size of shrinkage cavities after acidic etching of the alloy surfaces. The AuAgCuPt alloy castings showed an acceptable quality in the microstructural analysis. The results of AuPtZn castings, however, were not satisfactory because 50.8% of the samples showed a remarkably poorer quality compared to the specifications made by the manufacturer. The proportion of the employed reclaimed alloy had no influence on the casting quality when AuAgCuPt alloy was used, but was influential when casting restorations with AuPtZn alloy. When determining the quantity and size of shrinkage cavities, none of the evaluated castings was of such a poor quality that a replacement of the castings had to be considered. The differences in grain size and quantity of shrinkage cavities were reflecting the individual laboratory process rather than the admixture of new/reclaimed alloy. The presented analysis can be used as a simple method for quality control of dental castings.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to the participating dental laboratories and to Prof. Dr. J. Schulte Mönting, Department of Biostatistics, University of Freiburg, for his help with the statistics.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Christian Mehl

    Present address: , 10 Brook Street, W1S 1BG, London, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Prosthodontics, Propaedeutics and Dental Materials, Dental School, Christian-Albrechts University at Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Str. 16, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Christian Mehl & Matthias Kern

  2. Grossfeldstrasse 2, 79618, Rheinfelden, Germany

    Björn Lang

  3. Department of Technical Research and Development, Ivoclar Vivadent, Benderstrasse 2, 9494, Schaan, Lichtenstein

    Heinrich Kappert

Authors
  1. Christian Mehl
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  2. Björn Lang
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  4. Matthias Kern
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Correspondence to Christian Mehl.

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Mehl, C., Lang, B., Kappert, H. et al. Microstructure analysis of dental castings used in fixed dental prostheses—a simple method for quality control. Clin Oral Invest 15, 383–391 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-010-0394-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-010-0394-x

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