Dental Materials

Abstract

Dental materials are those materials used to provide therapy for the hard and soft oral tissues. This therapy includes the replacement of oral tissues lost through disease with inert materials, ie, metallic, ceramic, and organic, or with composites employing combinations of these three broad classes. The operative restorations and prostheses are made of amalgam, precious and nonprecious alloys, special cements, synthetic polymers, porcelain, and glass‐ceramics, all of which must withstand the rigors of the oral environment (see also Prosthetic and Biomedical Devices). The accessory materials needed in the fabrication procedures include synthetic polymers, synthetic and natural gums and waxes, hydrocolloids, gypsums, and refractories. These materials are used by ca 170,000 practicing dentists in the United States (1992) and more than 8,500 commercial U.S. dental laboratories employing ca 40,000–50,000 technicians.