Physical and mechanical properties of dental material

CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
o Hardness
o Viscosity
o Creep and flow
o Color and color perceptions
o Thermo physical properties
o Tarnish
o Corrosion
o Galvanic currents
• MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
o Stress
o Strain
o Elastic modulus
o Strength properties
o Toughness
o Brittleness
o Ductility and malleability
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
The principal goal of dentistry is to maintain to improve the quality of
life of the dental patient. This requires the replacement or alteration of
existing tooth structure; the main challenges for centuries have been the
selection and development of good prosthetic materials that can withstand
the adverse conditions of the oral environment.
Physical properties are the measures of a material. These properties have
great significance in dental research because they provide the information
needed to assess the characteristics of and improvement in materials under
development.
The physical properties of a tooth set the standard for materials
attached to a tooth. Theory suggests that if a restorative material can be
made to hold properties similar to those of natural tooth structure, it should
perform as well as original tooth.

HARDNESS :
The property of hardness is one of the major properties in the
comparison of restorative materials.
Hardness may be defined as “the resistance to permanent surface
indentation or penetration”. The most common concept of hard and
soft substances is their relative resistance to indentation.
Hardness is a measure of resistance to plastic deformation and is
measured as a force per unit area of indentation.
- Based on this definition of hardness, it is clear why this property is so
important to dentistry.
Hardness is indicative of the case of finishing of a structure and
its resistance to in service scratching.
- There are many ways to areas use hardness depending on the shape of
the object used to deform the surface being tested.
Some of the most common methods of testing the hardness of
restorative materials are:
Brinell
Knoop
Vickers
Rockwell
Barcol and
Shore a hardness tests.
Each of these tests differs slightly from the others, and each
presents certain advantage and disadvantages. They have a common
quality, however, in that each depends on the penetration of some

small, symmetrically shaped indenter into the surface of the material
being tested.
- The various hardness tests differ in the indenter material, geometry and
load.
- The indenter may be made of steel, tungsten carbide or diamond and be
shaped as a sphere cone, pyramid or needle.
- Loads typically range from 1-3000 kg.
- The choice of a hardness test depends on the material of interest, the
expected hardness range, and the desired degree of localization.
The general procedure for testing hardness, in dependent of the specific
test and is as follows.
KNOOP HARDNESS TEST:
- The Knoop hardness test was developed to fulfill the needs of a micro
indentation test method.
- A load is applied to a carefully prepared diamond indenting tool with a
pyramid shape and the lengths of the diagonals of the resulting
indentation in the material are measured.
- This is the shape of the shape of the indenter and the resulting
indentation.
- KHN is the ratio of the load applied to the area of the indentation.
- The units of KHN are also kg/mm2
.
- Higher values for KHN represent hardness materials.

- The Knoop method is designed so varying loads may be applied to the
indenting instrument. The resulting indentation area, therefore, varies
according to the load applied and the nature of material tested.
Advantage : Materials with a great range of values.
• Silicon carbide abrasive 2480
• Feldspathic porcelain 460
• Enamel 343
• Gold foil 69
• Dentin 68
• Cementum 40
• Zinc phosphate cement 38
• Denture acrylic 21

BRINELL HARDNESS TEST :
- This is among the oldest methods used to test metals and alloys used in
dentistry.
- Method depends on resistance to the penetration of a small steel or
tungsten carbide ball, typically 1.6 mm in diameter, when subjected to
a weight of 123 N .
- In testing the brinell hardness of a material the penetrates remains in
contact with the specimen tested for a fixed time of 30 seconds, after
which it is removed and the indentation diameter is carefully measured.
- The resulting brinell hardness member (BHN) is computed as a ratio of
the load applied to the area of the indentation produced.
- Units of BHN are kg/mm2
.

- The smaller the area of indentation, the harder the material and the larger
the BHN value.
- Because BH test yields relatively large indentation area, this test is good
for determining average hardness values and poor determining very
localized values.
Condensed gold
foil 69
powdered 46
Gold alloys
type I 45
type II 95
type III 120
type IV 220
Stainless steel 350
Co-Cr alloys 270-370
Amalgam 90
Dentin 60-70
Composite 25 -35
Aluminium 18-35
Pure gold 18-30

ROCKWELL HARDNESS :
Rockwell hardness is a rapid testing method in which an instrument
applies a load to a material and a dial quickly calculates a hardness
number. This method is commonly used with plastics, since the device
can be kept on the material for varying amounts of time to measure
percent of recovery.
- Depth of indentation is measured with a sensitive micrometer.
- 60-150 kg
- Good foe testing visco elastic materials.
- Readings are directly read.
- Indentation rapidly disappears.

BARCOL HARDNESS :
- Used to study the depth of cure of resin composites.
- Has a spring loaded needle with a diameter of 1 mm that is pressed
against the surface.
- If no penetration occurs, needle reads 0. Reading decreases as
indentation increases.

VICKERS HARDNESS:
This hardness test uses a 136 diamond pyramid, it is used in applied
loads, it is used in applied loads. It is commonly used in dentistry and
measure very hard materials and if small areas all to be tested.
- A squarish indentation is produced.
- Diagonals are measured.
- Kg/mm2
.
- Application varies from 1-120 kg.
NANOINDENTATION :
- Traditional tests used high loads and indentation areas were large.
- But many materials have microstructural constituents and to accurately
measure these microphases, it is necessary to be able to create
indentations of a smaller size scale and also to be able to control the
location of indentations.

Therefore nanoindentation has recently been introduced and are
able to apply loads in the range of 0.1-5000 mg.
- Indentations are of 1µm in size.
- Studies compared the efficacy by comparing values obtained earlier.
N.H. KHN
Dentin 71 kg/mm2
68 kg/mm2
Enamel 457 kg/mm2
343 kg/mm2

Hardness can be tested simply by varying the test load. because
very light load applications produce extremely delicate micro
indentations, this method of testing can be employed to examine
materials that vary in hardness over an area of interest.
Disadvantage : The used for a highly polished and feat test specimen
and the time required to complete the test operation.
VISCOSITY :
Materials that have mechanical properties independent or loading rate
are termed – Elastic.
Materials that have mechanical properties dependent on loading rate
are termed – Viscoelastic.
In other words, these materials have characteristics of an elastic solid
and a viscous fluid.
Most liquids when placed in motion resist imposed forces that
cause them to move. This resistance to motion is called viscosity and is
controlled by the interval frictional forces within the liquid.
Viscosity is the measure of the consistency of a fluid and its
inability to frontier. So, a highly viscous fluid flows slower because of
its high viscosity.
The units of viscosity are poise P.
(1P = 0.1 Pas = 0.1 NS/m2
), or is also reported in centipoises CP
(100 CP = 1P) to put this concept on a quantitative basis …..
A liquid occupies the space between 2 metal plates. The lower
plate is fixed and upper plate is moved to the right with a certain
velocity.

A force is required to overcome the drag produced by the
friction of the liquid. Stress is the force per unit area that develops
within a structure when an external force is applied. The stress
produced causes a deformation or strain to develop and can be
circulated. If the plates haven area (A), a shear. Stress (T) can be
defined as T = F/A. the shear strain rate or rate of change of
deformation is ε = v/d where d is the distance between the 2 plates and
v is the velocity of the liquid. Similarly, a shear stress versus stain rate
curve can be plotted.
An ‘ideal’ fluid demonstrates a shear stress that is proportional
to the strain rate and thus the plot is a straight line. Such behavior is
called Newtonian.
A Newtonian fluid has a constant viscosity and exhibits a
constant scope of shear stress plotted against the strains rate (a straight
line), many dental materials exhibit pseudoplastic behavior – their
viscosity deceases with increasing shear rate until it reaches a nearly
constant value. E.g. Rubber impression materials.

The viscosity of a dilatant liquid increases with increasing shear
rate. E.g. Fluid denture base resins. These liquids become more liquid
as the rate of deformation increases.
- There are also some materials that behave like a rigid body until some
minimum value to shear stress is reached.
E.g. Ketchup is a familiar
A sharp blow to the bottle is usually required to produce an initial
flow.
- A liquid that becomes less viscosity and more fluid under repeated
applications of pressure is referred to as thyrotrophic.
Eg. Dental prophylaxis pastes, plaster of Paris

CREEP AND FLOW
If a metal is held at a temperature near its melting point and is
subjected to a constant applied stress, the resulting strain will increase
over time.
Creep is defined as the time dependent plastic strain of a material
under a static load or constant stress.
The related phenomenon if sag occurs in the permanent deformation
of long – span metal bridge structures at porcelain – rising
temperatures under the influence of the mass of the prosthesis.
Dental amalgams contain from 42-52 wt% of Hg and begin melting at
low temperatures. Because of its low melting range, dental amalgam
can slowly creep from a restored tooth site under periodic sustained
stress, such as those imposed by patients who clench their teeth.
Because creep produces continuing plastic deformation, the process
can be destructive to a dental prosthesis.
The term ‘flow’ rather than creep has generally been used in dentistry
to describe the rheology of amorphous materials such as waxes. The
flow of wax is a measure of its potential to deform under a small static
load even that associated with its own mass.
- Although creep or flow may be measured under any type of stress,
comparison is usually employed in the testing of dental materials.
- A cylinder of prescribed dimensions is subjected to a given compressive
stress for a specified time and temperature. Creep or flow is measured
as the % decrease in length that occurs under these testing conditions.
- Creep may cause unacceptable deformation of dental restorations (such
as low Cu amalgam) made from a material that is used clinically at a
temperature near its melting point for an extended period.

COLOR
An important goal of dentistry is to restore the color and appearance
of natural dentition. Color is all about light.
The perception of the color of an object is the result of a
physiological response to a physical stimulus, light is an
electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye. The
eye is sensitive to wavelengths from approximately 400 nm to 500 nm.
Light is reflected from on object and stimulates the neural sensors in
the eye’s retina to send a signal i.e. interpreted in the visual cortex of
the brain.
The reflected light intensities and the combined intensities of wave
lengths present in incidence and reflected light determine the
appearance properties (hue, value and chroma).
For an object to be visible, it must reflect or transmit light incident on
it from an external source. The incident light is usually polychromatic,
that is, a mixture of the various wavelengths.
Incident light is selectively absorbed or scattered (or both) at retain
wavelengths. The spectral distribution of the transmitted or reflected
light resembles that of incident light, although certain wavelengths are
reduced in magnitude.
Verbal descriptions of color are not precise enough to describe the
appearance of teeth. Hence, 3 variables must be measured to accurately
describe once perception of light reflected from a tooth’s restoration
surface :
Hue
Value

Chroma
Hue : Describes the dominant color of an object. E.g.: Red, green or
blue. This refers to the dominant wavelength in the spectral
distribution. The continuous of these were creates a color.
Value : Increases towards the whiter and decreases towards black.
Teeth can be separated into lighter shades (increases value) and darker
shades (lower value) value identifies the lightness or a darkness of a
color, which can be measured independently of here.
Chroma : The yellow of a lemon is more ‘vivid’ than a yellow of a
banana – which is a dull yellow. This is a difference in color intensity.
Chroma represents this degree of saturation of a particular here. The
higher the chroma, the more intense the color. Chroma is not
considered separately in dentistry. It is considered along with here and
value of dental tissues.
Because the spectral distribution of the light reflected from or
transmitted through an object is dependent on the spectral content of
the incident light, the appearance of an object is dependent in the
nature of the light in which the object is viewed. Day light, and
fluorescent lamps are common sources of light in dental operators and
each of there has a different spectral distribution. Objects that appear to
be color matched under one type of light may appear different under
another light source. This phenomenon is called “Metamerism”.
Measurement of color:
The color of dental restorative materials is most commonly measured
in reflected light by instrumental or visual techniques.
Instrumental techniques : Curves of spectral reflectance versus
wavelength can be obtained over the visible range (405-407 nm) with a

recording spectrophotometer and integrating sphere. Typical curves for
a composite resin before and after 300 hours of accelerated aging in a
weathering chamber
SPECTROPHOTOMETER
From the reflectance values and tabulated color matching
functions, the tristimulus values (X,Y, Z) can be computed relative to a
particular light source. These tristimulus values are related to the
amounts of the three primary colors required to give by additive
mixture, a match with the color being considered. Typically, the
tristimulus values are considered relative to the commission
international de I’Eclairage (CIE) a diagram of the CIE. L*a*b* color
space is this. The L*a*b* color space is characterized by uniform
chromacities. Value (black to white) is denoted as L*, whereas chroma
(a*b*) is denoted as red (+a*), green (-a*), yellow (+b*) and blue (-
b*).
Visual technique : A popular system of visual determination is the
Munsell color system, the parameters of which are represented in 3
dimensions.

THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES :
Thermal Conductivity :
Heat transfer through solid substances most commonly occurs by
means of conduction. The conduction of heat through metals occurs
through the interactions of crystal lattice vibrations and by the motions
of electrons and their interaction with atoms.
Thermal conductivity is a thermo physical measure of low well heat
is transferred through a material by conductive flow. The measurement
of thermal C is preformed under ‘steady state conditions’. Under these
conditions, temperatures in the system (i.e. the temperature gradient)
do not change over time. The rate of heat flow through a structure is

proportional both to the area (perpendicular to heat is conducted and to
the temperature gradient across the structure. thus, if significant
porosity exists in the structure, the area available for conduction is
reduced and the rate of heat flow is reduced. The thermal conductivity
or coefficient of thermal conductivity is the quantity of heat in calories
per second that passes through a specimen 1 cm thick having a cross-
sectional area of 1 cm2
when the temperature difference between the
surfaces perpendicular to heat flow of the specimen is 10
K. According
to the 2nd
law of thermodynamics, heat flow from points of higher
temperature to points of lower temperature.
- Materials that have a high thermal and are called conductors.
- Materials of low thermal conductivity are called insulators.
- ISI unit or measure for thermal conductivity is watt per meter per second
per degree Kelvin (w x m-1
x s-1
x k-1
).
Thermal diffusivity:
The value of thermal diffusivity of a material control the time rate of
temperature change as heat passes through a material.
- It is a measure of the rate at which a body with a non-uniform
temperature reaches a state of thermal equilibrium.
- The square root of thermal diffusivity is indirectly proportional to the
thermal insulation ability.
- In the oral environment, temperatures are not constant during the
ingestion of foods and liquids. For these unsteady state conditions, heat
transfer through the material deceases the thermal gradient under such
conditions, the thermal diffusivity is

- The effectiveness of a material in preventing heat transfer is directly
proportional to the thickness of the liner and inversely proportional to
the square root of the thermal diffusivity. Thus, the thicknesses of the
remaining dentin and the base are as important as, if not more
important than, the thermal properties of the materials.
The S.I. unit of thermal diffusivity is typical of diffusion processes,
that is, square meter per second values.
The COTE refers to the amount of expansion and contraction a
material undergoes in relation to temperature. a tooth expands and
contracts with thermal changes.
COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION:
This is an important thermal property. Coefficient of thermal
expansion is defined as the change in length per unit of the original
length of a material when its temperature is raised 10
K. A tooth
expands and contracts with thermal changes. A high COTE indicates a
relatively high degree of dimensional change is expansion to
temperature. Values of coefficients of thermal expansion of some
materials of interest are

The units of α are typically expressed in units of µm/m0
K or ppm /
0
K.
Studies show that there is a direct revolution behavior marginal
leakage and thermal changes. The greater the difference in flow
between tooth structure and the restorative, the greater the leakage.
A tooth restoration may expand or contract more than the tooth
during a change in temperature; thus there may be marginal
microleakage adjacent to the restoration, or the restoration may debond
from the tooth.
- Restorative materials may change in dimension upto 4.4 times more than
the tooth enamel for every degree of temperature change.
- The high thermal expansion coefficient of inlay wax is important
because it is highly susceptible to temperature changes.
- Although these thermal stress is cannot be eliminated completely, they
can be reduced appreciably by selection of materials whose expansion
or contraction coefficients are matched fairly closely (within 4%).

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Defined by the laws of mechanics, that is, the physical science that
deals in the energy and forces and their efforts on bodies. All
mechanical properties are measures of the resistance of a material to
deformation or fracture under an applied force.
For distal applications stress forces are usually expressed as Mpa.
A free scale named after French scientist Blasé Das et al in 1667.
Newton is a free scale named after British mathematician sie Issac
Newton.
STRESSES AND STRAINS :
Defined as force per unit area within a structure subjected to an
external force or pressure.
Expressed in Newton’s per sq. mm (N/mm2
) or pounds per sq. inch
(psi). The unit N/mm2
is properly known as the Pascal and abbreviated
pa. The pascal is a small unit.
For dental applications, there are several types of stress that develop
according to the nature of the applied forces and the object shape.
These include tensile stress, shear stress and compressive stress.

STRAIN :
Defined as the change in the length of materials on the applications of
stress. Calculated by dividing by its original length – a unit with no
dimensions. A material capable of high strain, such a rubber or latex,
can tolerate a strain value of 0.5 – 50.0% before failure. For most
solids, stain is expressed as micro strain is parts per millions (PPM) or
10-6
strain.

TENSILE STRESS:
A tensile stress is caused by a load that tends to stretch or elongate a
body. A tensile stress is always accompanied by tensile strain. There
are very few pure tensile stress situations in dentistry. However, a
tensile stress can be generated when structures are flexed.
(The deformation of a bridge and the diametral compression of a
cylinder)
Because most dental materials are quite brittle, they are highly
susceptible to crack initiation in the presence of surface flaws when
subjected to tensile stress, such as when they are subjected to flexural
loading. Although some brittle materials are strong, they fracture with
little warning, because little or no plastic deformation occurs to
indicate high levels of stress.
COMPRESSIVE STRESS :
If a body is placed under a load that tends to compress or shorten it,
the internal resistance to such a load is called a compressive stress.
A compressive stress is associated with a compressive strain. To
calculate either tensile stress or compressive stress, the applied force is
divided by the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the force direction.

SHEAR STRESS:
A shear stress tends to resist the sliding or twisting of one portion of
a body over another. Shear stress can also be produced by twisting or
toesional action on a material.
For eg: if a force is applied along the surface of tooth enamel by a
sharp edged instrument parallel to the interface between the enamel
and an orthodontic bracket, the bracket may debond by shear stress
failure of the resin luting agent.
Shear stress is calculated by dividing the force by the area parallel to
the force direction. In the oral environment, shear failure is unlikely to
occur because:
Presence of chamfers, bevels or changes in curvatures of a bonded
tooth surface would also make shear failure of a bonded material
highly unlikely.
The further away from the interface the load is applied, the more
likely that tensile failure rather than shear failure will occur because
the potential for bending stresses would increase
Because the tensile strength of brittle materials is usually well below
their shear strength values, tensile failure is more likely to occur.

FLEXURAL (BENDING) STRESS :
Taking an e.g. of a 3 unit bridge or FPD and a 2 unit cantilever FPD.
These stresses are produced by bending forces in dental appliances in
one of the 2 ways :
1. By subjecting a structure such as an FPD to 3 point loading, where by
the end points are fixed and a force is applied between these end
points.
2. By subjecting a cantilevered structure that is supported at only one
end to a load along any part of the unsupported section.
Also, when a patient bites into an object, the anterior teeth
receive forces that are at an angle to their long axes thereby creating
flexural stresses within the teeth.
- A tensile stress develops on the tissue side of the FPD and compressive
stress develops on the occlusal side. between these 2 areas is a neutral
axis that represents a state with no tensile stress and no compressive
stress. For a cantilevered FPD (as show in fig), the maximum tensile
stress develops with the occlusal surface or the surface that is
becoming more convex (indicating a stretching action). If you can
visualize this unit bending downward toward the tissue, the upper

surface becomes more convex or stretched and the opposite surface
becomes compressed.
ELASTIC DEFORMATION :
There are several important mechanical properties and parameters
that are measures of the elastic strain or plastic strain behaviour of
dental materials. These are elastic modulus, dynamic Young’s
modulus, shear modulus, flexibility, resilience and Poisson’s ratio.
Elastic modulus (young’s modulus of elasticity) :
Determines resistance to flexes and deformation, of the anterior of
bending when loaded.
Elastic modulus describes the relative stiffness or rigidity of a
material, which is measured by the slope of the elastic region of the
stress-strain graph. OR
The measure of elasticity of a material is described by the term elastic
modulus denoted by the variable E.
It represents the stiffness of a material within the elastic range.
1. Can be measured by placing a force on a material and measuring the
deformation, can be calculated in anon-destructive way by measuring
the harmonics if a material when vibrated.

2. Stress and strain are related in that the elastic modulus is the ratio of
stress over stain.
3. The elastic modulus can be determines by a stress-stain curve by
calculating the ratio of stress to strain or the slope of the linear region
of the curve. The modulus is calculated from the equation :
Elastic modulus = stress / stain
Because strain in dimensionless, the modulus has the same units
as stress and is usually reported in MPa or GPa (1GPA = 1000 MPa).
- The elastic qualities of a material represent a fundamental property of the
material. The inter atomic or intermolecular forces of the material are
responsible for the property of elasticity.
- The stronger the basic attraction forces, the greater the values of the
elastic modulus and the more rigid or stiff the material. Because this
property is related to the attraction forces within the material, it is
usually the same when the material is subjected to either tension or
compression. This property is generally independent of any heat
treatment or mechanical treatment that a metal or alloy has received,
but is quite dependent on the composition of the elastic modulus
indicates the material amount of stress that needs to be applied to
achieve a certain strain, or if the strain is knows, what level of stress is
in effect.
DYNAMIC YOUNG’S MODULUS:
Elastic modulus can be measured by a dynamic method using
Poisson’s ratio.
During axial loading in tension or compression, there is a
simultaneous axial and lateral strain. Under tensile loading as a
material elongates in the direction of load, there is a reduction in cross

section. Under compressive loading, there is an increase in cross
section.
Within the elastic range, the ratio of the lateral to the axial strain is
called Poisson’s ratio (v).
In tensile loading, the Poisson’s ratio indicates that the reduction in
cross section is proportional to the elongation during the elastic
deformation. The reduction in cross-section continues until the
material is fractured.
RESILIENCE :
Resilience is the resistance of a material to permanent deformation. It
indicates the amount of energy necessary to deform the material to the
proportional limit.
Resilience is therefore measured by the area under the elastic portion
of the stress-strain curve.
Resilience can be measured by idealizing area of interest as a triangle
and calculating the area of the triangle.
The units are MN / m3
(meter x mega newtons per cubic meter),
which represents energy per unit volume of material. resilience has
particular importance in the evaluation of orthodontic wires because
the amount of work expected from a particular spring in moving a
tooth is of interest.
STRENGTH
The strength of a material is defined as the average level of stress at
which a material exhibits a certain amount of initial plastic

deformation or at which fracture occurs in test specimens of the same
shape and size. The strength is dependent on several factors including:
1. Strain rate
2. Shape of test specimen
3. The surface finish
4. The environment in which a material is tested.
However, the strength of brittle materials may appear to be low
when large flows are present or if stress concentration areas exist
because of improper design of a prosthetic component (such as a notch
on the clasp arm on a partial denture) under these circumstances, a
clinical prosthesis may fracture at a much lower applied force because
the localized stress exceeds the strength of the material at the critical
location of the flow (stress concentration).
PROPORTIONAL LIMIT :
As a wire is stretched steadily in tension, the wire eventually
fractures. However, in dentistry, we are also interested in the stress at
which plastic deformation begins to develop. A stress – strain curve for
a hypothetical material that was subjected to increasing tensile stress
until fracture. The stress is plotted vertically and the strain is plotted
horizontally. As the stress is increased, the strain is increased. In fact,
the initial portion of the curve, from O to A, the strain is linearly
proportional to the stress, and as the stress is doubled, the amount of
strain is also doubled. When a stress that is higher than the value
registered at A is achieved, the strain changes are no longer linearly
proportional to the stress changes. Hence, the value of the stress at A is
known as proportional limit and is defined as the greatest stress that a

material will sustain without a deviation from the linear proportionality
of stress to strain.
- Below the proportional limit, no permanent deformation occurs in a
structure. When the stress is removed, the structure will return to its
original dimensions. The region of stress-strain curve before
proportional limit is called elastic region.
- The application of stress grater than the proportional limit results in a
permanent or irreversible strain in the specimen, the region of the
stress-strain curve beyond the proportional limit is called plastic
region.
- The elastic limit is defined as the maximum stress that a material will
withstand without permanent deformation. There fore, for all practical

purposes, the proportional limit and elastic limit represent the same
stresses within the structure and terms are used inter changeably.
YIELD STRENGTH :
The conditions needed for the definitions of elastic limit and
proportional limit are not always realized under practical conditions.
The yield strength or yield stress (YS) of a material is a property that
can be determined readily and is often used to describe the stress at
which the material begins to function in a plastic manner.
- At this stress, a limited permanent strain has occurred in a material.
- The yield strength is defined as the stress at which a material exhibits a
specified limiting deviation from proportionality of stress to strain.
- A value of either 0.1% or 0.2% of the plastic strain is often selected and
is referred to as “percent offset”.
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH :
Compressive strength is important in many restorative materials used
in dental technique and operations.
- Compressive strength in measure of the amount of force a material can
support in a single impact before breaking.
- This property is particularly important in the process of mastication
because many of the forces of mastication are compressive.
- One of the easiest to measure and is often cited in advertisements for
materials.
- There is no direct correlation between compressive strength and clinical
perform.

- Compressive strength is most useful for comparing materials that are
brittle and generally weak in tension and that are therefore not
employed in regions of oral cavity where tensile forces predominate.
- Certain characteristics of a material subjected to tension are also
observed when a material is in compression.
- When a structure is subjected to compression, note that the failure of the
body may occur as a result of complex stress formations in the body.
This is illustrated by a cross-sectional view of a right cylinder
subjected to compression. It is apparent that forces of compression are
resolved into forces of shear along a cone shaped area at each end and
as a result of the action of the 2 cones on the cylinder, into tensile
forces in the center of the cylinder.

- Because of this resolution of the forces in the body, it has become
necessary to adopt standard sizes and dimensions to obtain
reproducible test results.
- This fig shows that if a material too short, the force distributions
becomes more complicated as a result of the cone formations over
lapping in the ends of the cylinder.
- If the specimen is too long, buckling may occur. Therefore the cylinder
should have a length twice that of diameter for the most satisfactory
results.
- Unfortunately, the punch test has no direct correlation to the clinical
performance of a material. Further, there is little agreement in the
research community on how to conduct this test, although standards
are being developed.

SHEAR STRENGTH :
Shear stress is the maximum stress that a material can withstand
before failure in a shear mode of loading.
- It is particularly important in the study of interfaces between 2 materials
and has been used to measure bond strength between different
materials.
- One method of testing shear strength of dental materials is the punch or
pushout method – in which an axial load is applied where ‘F’ is the
compression force applied to the specimen, ‘d’ is the diameter of the
punch and ‘h’ is thickness of specimen, then shear strength =
S.S. = F / π d h
- In this test, shear strength is calculated from the compressive force
applied, the diameter of punch and the thickness of material tested.

- It is important to note that the stress distribution caused by this method is
not ‘pure’ shear and that results often differ because of differences in
specimen distribution, surface geometry, composition and preparation
and mechanical testing procedure.
- However, it is a simple test to perform and has been used extensively.
Alternatively, shear properties may be determined by subjecting a
specimen to tensional loading as well.
TENSILE STRENGTH :
- Is the amount of force that can be used to stretch a material in a single
impact prior to breaking.
- This physical property is more difficult to measure than CST.
- The tolerance of measuring device is critical – materials must be pulled
at an exact 1800
angle from each other to eliminate the influence of
shear forces. The clinical relevance of tensile strength is limited.

Diametral tensile strength :
Theoretical tensile strength measurement that is calculated by
measuring the CS of a disc of material. This test is easier to perform
and more consistent than the clinical tensile strength test.
TOUGHNESS :
- Toughness is defined as the amount of elastic and plastic deformation
energy required to fracture a material. It is a measure of the energy
required to propogate critical flows in the structure.
- Toughness is indicated as the total area under the stress stain graph, from
zero stress to fracture stress.
- Toughness increases with increase in strength and ductility.
- Fracture toughness is the critical stress intensity factor at the beginning
of the rapid crack propagation in a solid containing a crack of known
shape and size.

- It describes the resistance of brittle materials to the catastrophic
propagation of flows under an applied stress.
- Fracture toughness is given in units of stress times the square root of
crack length that is MPa M ½
or the equivalent form, MN. M– ½
.

BRITTLENESS :
Shown in this figure are 3 materials, their stress-stain curves with
variable properties.
- Material A is stronger, stiffer and more ductile than material B and C.
- Material B has less ductility than material A and is thus more brittle.
- Material C has no ductility and is perfectly brittle, it is also the weakest
of the 3 materials.
- Brittleness is the relative inability of material to sustain plastic
deformation before fracture of a material occurs.
For eg : amalgams, ceramics and composites are brittle at oral
temperatures (5-550
C). They sustain little or no plastic strain before
they fracture. In other words, a brittle material fractures at or near its
proportional limit. This behaviour is shown by material C.
- However, a brittle material is not necessarily weak. For eg : if a glass is
drawn into a fiber with very smooth surface and insignificant internal
flows, its tensile strength may be as high as 2800MPa, but it will have
no ductility (0% elongation).

DUCTILITY AND MALLEABILITY :
For eg : a metal that can be drawn readily into long, thin, wire is
considered to be ductile.
- The ability of a material to sustain considerable permanent deformation
without rupture under compression, as in hammering or rolling into a
sheet, is termed “MALLEABLE”.
- Gold is the most ductile and malleable pure metal and silver is second,
copper ranks third.
- Ductility is the maximum plastic deformation a material can withstand
when it is stretched at room temperature.
Measurement of ductility :
There are 3 common methods for measurement of ductility
1) The present elongation after fracture
2) The maximum number of bends performed in a cold bend test.
- The most common and simplest used method is to compare the increase
in length of a wire or rod after fracture in tension to its length before
fracture.
2 marks are placed on the wire or rod after fracture in tension to its
length before fracture. 2 marks are placed on the wire or rod a
specified distance apart and this distance is designated as the ‘gauge
length’. The wire or rod is then pulled apart under a tensile load. The
guage length is again measured. The ratio of the increased length is %
is called ‘percent elongation” and this represents the quantitative value
of ductility.
- Another method for manifestation of ductility is the COLD BEND TEST
: the material is clamped in a rise and bent around a mandrel of a

specified radius. A number of bends to fracture is counted, and the
greater the number, the greater the ductility.
CONCLUSION
It is very important to know the properties of the materials we use in
dentistry, especially as restorative materials. This will enable us to select a
material that will have properties close to that of natural tooth structure.
Also we will be able to better understand and select materials from the
wide range that are coming in to the market.
Hence, a thorough knowledge of the properties of restorative materials is
a must.

REFERENCES
• Phillips science of dental materials-Anusavice(11 edn)
• Restorative dental materials-Craig and Powers (11edn)
• Materials in dentistry- Ferracane
• Tooth colored restoratives-Albers

Physical and mechanical properties of dental material

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (20)

Similaire à Physical and mechanical properties of dental material

Similaire à Physical and mechanical properties of dental material (20)

Plus de Indian dental academy

Plus de Indian dental academy (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Physical and mechanical properties of dental material