Today’s post looks at one of the miracles of modern dentistry: the dental restoration.
Let’s pretend you are a biomedical engineer working in the field of dentistry before the discovery of dental restorations. The men and women of your generation who have missing or damaged teeth want to repair or replace them with a man-made substitute. You have been hired to find or create a material that can be used to create fillings, crowns, and dental bridges.
Consider the various physical and chemical requirements of this incredible item. It must survive forces of 162 pounds per square inch (PSI), hundreds of times a day–day after day, year after year. It must be resistant to cracking and chipping. But there’s a catch regarding its stability; it must not weaken the enamel on opposing teeth. This material must also maintain its size and shape and be resistant to shrinking.
It must be bondable to living tooth structure as well as other materials needed for specific appliances. It must be biocompatible with the soft tissues in the mouth as well as tooth enamel, dentin, and bone. It can’t generate allergic reactions in the wearers. It must be corrosion-resistant to the chemicals in saliva, foods, and beverages. It must resist infection regardless of ever-present bacteria in the mouth. And it can’t contain toxic chemicals that could be absorbed into the bloodstream.
And we haven’t even talked about the artistic properties yet. Ideally, this incredible material would look identical to real-life teeth in color, opacity, and translucence.
Of course, we know that such an item exists because dental restorations have been around for a long time. Nowadays, there are numerous materials used alone or in combination including porcelain, ceramic, and metals such as gold and silver amalgam. Though the metals are very strong and malleable, they don’t meet some patient’s esthetic requirements and are used mainly for back teeth.
It is interesting to note that porcelain, one of the perfect materials used in modern restorations, was invented over 2000 years ago in China.
I wonder if the ancient Chinese porcelain founders who developed the techniques for molding, firing, and painting the beautiful tableware and vases valued around the world ever imagined that their invention would live beautifully in the mouths of millions of individuals more than twenty centuries later!
Just Smiles offers sedation dentistry, general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, emergency dentistry, and dental implants. For more information, call Just Smiles today at 380-217-1828 or visit us
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614-823-8668Just Smiles Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
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