Dielectric Coatings for More Durable Fixed and Removable Dental Prosthetic Restorations

Coatings Protect Against Corrosive Oral Environments and Improve Survival Rate for Prosthetics

This dielectric coating process increases the durability and survival rate of fixed or removable dental prosthetic restorations by layering different dielectric materials capable of withstanding acidic and basic pH environments. Fixed restorations include crowns, bridges, inlays, and onlays. Removable restorations include complete and partial dentures. Materials for fixed prosthetic restorations include metallic or ceramic, or a combination of both. However, ceramics are only used in certain conditions because of this material’s physical property limitations. As a result of the combined effects of occlusion, pH changes ad temperature fluctuations in the oral cavity, about a quarter of ceramic fixed dental prostheses fail in the first four years. Available dental materials and technologies cannot withstand these harsh environments in the mouth. University of Florida researchers have developed a dielectric coating process to achieve the desired surface, wear, chemical resistance, and color characteristics for fixed or removable prosthetic restorations. They have also developed a more innovative method for effectively simulating and therefore testing dental prosthetic restorations for chemical durability and wear..

Application

Coatings protect against acidic and basic conditions in the mouth and increase durability of dental prosthetic restorations.

Advantages

• Produces a smooth surface, minimizing biofilm formation and bacterial surface colonization
• Uses multiple dielectric layers, increasing durability, hardness, and chemical resistance
• Requires low temperatures for processing, reducing production costs
• Offers fast deposition rates during processing, reducing time of production

Technology

University of Florida researchers have developed dielectric surface coatings that minimize or prevent the corrosion of dental prosthetic restorations in the oral cavity. Experimental results indicate that dielectric materials chosen for their mechanical and chemical properties exhibit better hardness and chemical resistance to both acidic and basic solutions. The use of multiple materials layered in the dielectric coating helps to achieve the desired surface, wear, chemical resistance, and color characteristics of dental prosthetics. These coatings are silicon based, which reduces the chance of bacterial adhesion by limiting rough or irregular surfaces. These films can be deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The machine functions at low temperatures, which prevents the prostheses from being damaged. It also offers good step coverage and fast deposition rates. In addition, these coatings are esthetic and have a significantly higher survival rate than dental prosthetic restorations produced from available ceramic systems.