Dr Lalit Kumar

Assoc. Prof
Department of Prosthodontics
 ATOMS: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF DENTAL
MATERIALS
The basic building block of all restorative dental
materials is the atom.
Atoms combine various ways via bonding; the bonding
between atoms is a key feature of what makes dental
materials
Periodic Table
 Bonds between Atoms (Primary)
❑ Ionic bonds are formed
when an electron from one
element is given
completely to another in
return for forming the bond.

❑ Covalent bonds form

when atoms share
electrons to form a bond.

❑ Metallic bonds result

when electrons are shared
among many atoms.
Bonds between Atoms (Secondary)
 In contrast with primary bonds, secondary
bonds do not share electrons.
1. van der Waals Forces
 These forces of attraction arise from *dipole
attractions. In the case of polar molecules,
dipoles are induced by an unequal sharing of
electrons.
*a pair of equal and oppositely charged or magnetized
poles separated by a distance.
 Bonds between Atoms (Secondary)
2. Hydrogen Bond
 The hydrogen bond is a
special case of dipole
attraction of polar
compounds. It can be
understood by studying a
water molecule (Fig.).
 Attached to the oxygen
atom are two hydrogen
atoms. These bonds are
covalent.
Types of Bonding in dentistry (e.g)
 Physical bonding
 Two wet glass slabs
 Denture base to oral issue
 Mechanical bonding
 Amalgam restoration
 Chemical bonding
 GIC to tooth
 Zinc Polycarboxylate cement
 Micro-mechanical bonding
 Composite restoration
 Atomic arrangement and types:
1. Crystalline Structure
2. Non Crystalline structure
 1. CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE
 There are 14 possible lattice types.
 The type of space lattice is defined by the
length of each of three unit cell edges (called
the axes) and the angles between the edges.
 The simplest and most regular lattice is a
cubic, it is characterized by axes that are all
of equal length and meet at 90-degree
angles, representing the smallest repetitive
volume of a crystal, which is called a unit
cell.
 Most metals used in dentistry belong to the cubic
system.
 For example, iron at room temperature has an
atom at each corner of the cube and another
atom at the body center of the cube (Fig B).
 This crystal form is called a body centered cubic
cell (bcc).
 Copper, on the other hand, has additional
atoms at the center of each face of the unit cell
but none at the center of the cube.
 This form is called a face-centered cubic cell.
(fcc) (Figure, C).
 The hexagonal close-packed arrangement
(Figure 2-8, G) observed in titanium, zinc, and
zirconium has become an important crystalline
structure in dentistry.
 All metallic-based dental materials are
crystalline.
 Some pure ceramics, such as alumina and
zirconia core materials, are entirely crystalline.
 Non Crystalline Structure
 Glass is a typical non-crystalline solid of SiO2
because its atoms tend to be arranged in non-
repeating units (Figure 2-9).
 The ordered arrangement of the glass is more or
less locally interspersed with a considerable
number of disordered units.
 They do not have a definite melting temperature but
rather gradually soften as the temperature is raised.
 The temperature at which there is an abrupt
increase in the thermal expansion coefficient,
indicating increased molecular mobility, is called the
glass transition temperature (Tg)
Crystalline / Non Crystalline
 Adhesion
 Adhesion may be defined simply as an
interaction between two materials at an
interface where they are in contact.
 The nature of the interaction is such that their
separation is prevented.
 The property of adhesion is recognized as being
of major importance for filling materials, luting
materials and fissure sealants.

 ADHESION AND BONDING
 When the molecules of one substrate adhere or
are attracted to molecules of the other
substrate, the force of attraction is called
adhesion when unlike molecules are attracted
and cohesion when the molecules involved are
of the same kind.
 The material that is used to cause bonding is
known as the adhesive and the material to
which it is applied is called the adherend.
 Materials which are capable of bonding two
surfaces together are called adhesives whilst
 the material to which the adhesive is applied is
termed the adherend.

 Bonding may be achieved by one of two
mechanisms –
 mechanical attachment or
 chemical adhesion.
 In mechanical attachment the adhesive simply
engages in undercuts in the adherend surface
 When the surface irregularities responsible for
bonding have dimensions of only a few
micrometres the process is known as
micromechanical attachment.
 This should be distinguished from
macromechanical attachment which
forms the basis of retention for many filling
materials, using undercut cavities.
 In the case of chemical adhesion the adhesive
has a chemical affinity for the adherend surface.
SURFACE AND SURFACE ENERGY
 A surface is defined as the outmost layer of an
object.
 We know that solids or liquids are made up of a
finite number of atoms or molecules bonded by
primary and/or secondary bonds.
 This means that their surface is populated by
atoms or molecules that are ready to attract
other atoms or molecules approaching the
surface.
 Inside the lattice, all the atoms are equally
attracted to each other.
 The interatomic distance for atom “A” has a
balanced array of neighbors surrounding it and
the energy is minimal.
 At the surface of the lattice, atom “B” is not
equally attracted in all directions and the
energy is greater.
 This energy quantifies the work needed to
disrupt intermolecular bonds resulting a new
surface.
 Thus, it is called the surface energy.
 The energy on the surface per unit area is
referred to as the surface energy (in mJ/m ) or
surface tension.
 Eg. Falling liquid drops form spherical shapes,
which have the smallest surface area of all
known shapes, and they maintain the state of
lowest energy.
 WETTABILITY
 Whichever mechanism of bonding is utilized
the adhesive must be capable of wetting the
adherend surface.
 Wettability is a measure of the affinity of a
liquid for a solid as indicated by spreading of a
drop.

 When an impurity-free polished glass plate is placed
on top of another similar plate and pressed together,
they exhibit no tendency to adhere.
 If a drop of water is introduced between the same
two glass plates before they are pressed together,
considerable difficulty is encountered in separating
the two plates
 Contact angle
 The ability of an adhesive to wet an adherend
surface is evaluated by measuring the contact
angle which is formed when a drop of adhesive
is applied to the surface.
 If a low contact angle occurs, as in the left of,
the solid is wetted readily by the liquid
(hydrophilic if the liquid is water).
 If a contact angle is greater than 90°, as in the
right of, poor wetting occurs (hydrophobic if the
liquid is water).
 When gypsum products are mixed with water
to pour dental models in various types of
impressions, wetting must occur between
gypsum and the impression to ensure good
surface quality of the gypsum model.
 To improve the wettability of the set
impression material by a gypsum-water
mixture, the operator usually sprays a
surfactant (also called debubblizer).
 The most direct approach by the
manufacturer is to incorporate a wetting
agent (also known as a surfactant)