An overview of dental glass–ceramics: From material design to the manufacturing process

Abstract

As a subserie of the dental ceramic material family, glass–ceramics are favored for their excellent aesthetic properties. The feasibility of current commercially available dental glass–ceramics applications has been proven, while the assurance and development of more functional properties for them are still being explored. Effective utilization of various modification mechanisms by adjusting the chemical composition and microstructure is essential to improve the mechanical properties, aesthetic properties, and other properties such as biocompatibility of dental restorative materials. Among them, the mechanical properties of restorations should take into account the mechanical properties of glass ceramics and the final restoration (restoration and tooth set) in the mechanical behavior. This paper provides an overview of the chemical composition design, classification of microstructure, property requirements, and strengthening methods applied to dental glass–ceramics, including ion exchange, chain effects, heat treatment modulation, and strengthening mechanisms. In addition, research on traditional hot pressing, subtractive manufacturing, and newly developed additive manufacturing in glass–ceramics are systematically presented. Finally, the tendency of dental glass–ceramics was forecasted by analyzing the relationship between glass–ceramic composition, process, and mechanical properties.