PICN Nanocomposite as Dental CAD/CAM Block Comparable to Human Tooth in Terms of Hardness and Flexural Modulus

• Published in: Materials Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 1182
• Main Authors: Kawajiri, Yohei, Ikeda, Hiroshi, Nagamatsu, Yuki, Masaki, Chihiro, Hosokawa, Ryuji, Shimizu, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.03.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Bonding strength; CAD; CAD/CAM; CAM; Cement; Composite materials; Computer aided design; Computer aided manufacturing; Dental crowns; dental material; Dental materials; Dentin; Diamond pyramid hardness; Enamel; Flexural strength; Free energy; Light; Mechanical properties; Modulus of rupture in bending; Morphology; nanocomposite; Nanocomposites; polymer infiltrated ceramic network; Polymer matrix composites; Polymerization; Prostheses; Resins; restorative material; silica; Silicon dioxide; Sintering; Stress concentration; Titanium alloys; Japan; dental material; restorative material; dental core; silica; CAD/CAM; nanocomposite; polymer infiltrated ceramic network; biomimetics; mechanical properties; dental crown
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma14051182

Polymer infiltrated ceramic network (PICN) composites are an increasingly popular dental restorative material that offer mechanical biocompatibility with human enamel. This study aimed to develop a novel PICN composite as a computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) block for dental applications. Several PICN composites were prepared under varying conditions via the sintering of a green body prepared from a silica-containing precursor solution, followed by resin infiltration. The flexural strength of the PICN composite block (107.8-153.7 MPa) was similar to a commercial resin-based composite, while the Vickers hardness (204.8-299.2) and flexural modulus (13.0-22.2 GPa) were similar to human enamel and dentin, respectively. The shear bond strength and surface free energy of the composite were higher than those of the commercial resin composites. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis revealed that the microstructure of the composite consisted of a nanosized silica skeleton and infiltrated resin. The PICN nanocomposite block was successfully used to fabricate a dental crown and core via the CAD/CAM milling process.