title: Applications of metal alloys in dentistry--a review.
abstract: It is very difficult to obtain a general impression of the metal alloys used in dentistry because of the large number currently on the market. Several hundred dental alloys are available in the United States and have been registered by the American Dental Association. The situation in the Federal Republic is similar, with 10 firms offering some 200 alloys. If two or three principal constituents of the alloys are known, it is possible to classify them into 4 groups: high-gold alloys, gold-reduced alloys, palladium-silver alloys and base metal alloys. By registration, standardization and specification, the manufacturers now provide information of a biomechanical nature which allows conclusions to be drawn by comparison without testing. However, biological, i.e. clinical and toxicological, tests are urgently required to provide advance indications of the biochemical behaviour of dental alloys in the oral cavity. Much detailed work still remains to be done to lay a sounder foundation for the dental use of metal alloys.
mesh_terms: D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002627:Chemistry, Physical; D003722:Dental Alloys / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification; D003778:Dentures; D006801:Humans; D008669:Metallurgy; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D003722:Dental Alloys