Structure Assessment by X-Ray Difractometry for Ceramic Materials used in Oral Prosthetic Systems

Abstract

The paper presents a difractometric analysis on two types of ceramics nowadays available on the market and frequently used in restorative dentistry: InLine (IVOCLAR) and Hera-Ceram (HAEREUS KULZER). The diffractograms obtained by projecting the x-ray beam on the ceramic surface allowed establishing the structural characteristics that could influence the tribological behaviour of certain ceramic materials by determining the crystalline parameters and/or amorphous network and correlate the results to the wear coefficient values of the concerned materials. This non-destructive method that characterise materials’ structure establishes several correlations between the macroscopic properties and their atomic structure.