Titanium dental copings prepared by a powder metallurgy method: a preliminary report.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine if the Procera pressed-powder method can be used to fabricate titanium copings.


METHODS
Commercially pure titanium powder was used to prepare the copings. The powder was pressed onto an enlarged tooth preparation die of aluminum using cold isostatic pressing. The outer shape of the coping was formed using a Procera milling machine, and the copings were vacuum sintered.


RESULTS
Titanium copings could be prepared using this method. The density of the sintered copings reached 97% to 99%+ of theoretic density, and the copings showed ductile behavior after sintering. Enlarging the tooth preparation die to compensate for the sintering shrinkage could optimize the final size of the copings.


CONCLUSIONS
Ductile and dense titanium dental copings can be produced with powder-metal processing using cold isostatic pressing, followed by milling and sintering to final shape. The forming technique has, if properly optimized, a potential of becoming a more cost-efficient production method than spark erosion.
Eriksson
Mikael
M
Swedish Ceramic Institute, Göteborg. me@sci.se
Andersson
Matts
M
Carlström
Elis
E
D003080:Cold Temperature; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003442:Crowns; D003776:Dental Porcelain / Q000737:chemistry*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D004548:Elasticity; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D016876:Metal Ceramic Alloys / Q000737:chemistry*; D008669:Metallurgy; D011312:Pressure; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D019246:Tooth Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation; D014618:Vacuum
D016876:Metal Ceramic Alloys; C077451:Procera; D003776:Dental Porcelain; D014025:Titanium