Types of Abrasives

• Abrasives can be broadly divided into:

– Natural abrasives
– Manufactured abrasives.
 Natural abrasives
Include:
• Arkansas stone
• Chalk
• Corundum
• Diamond
• Emery
• Garnet
• Pumice
• Quartz sand
• Tripoli and zirconium silicate
• Cuttle and kieselguhr are derived from the remnants
of living organisms.
 Manufactured abrasives
• Synthesized materials that are generally
preferred because and their predictable physical
properties
• Examples:
– Silicon
– carbide
– aluminum oxide
– synthetic diamond
– rough and tin oxide
 Arkansas stone
• A semi translucent, light gray, siliceous
sedimentary rock mixed in Arkansas.
• It contains microcrystalline quartz and is
dense hard and uniformly textured.
• Small pieces of this material are attached to
metal shanks and trued to various shapes for
fine grinding of tooth enamel and metal alloys.
 Chalk
• One of the mineral forms of calcite

• White abrasive composed of calcium carbonate and

also called whiting

• A mild abrasive used to polish teeth, gold and

amalgam restorations, and plastic materials.
 Corundum
• A mineral form of aluminum oxide
• Usually white and its physical properties are
inferior to those of manufactured aluminium
oxide, which has largely replaced corundum in
dental applications
• Used primarily for grinding metal alloys and is
available as a bonded abrasive in several
shapes.
• It is most commonly used in an instrument
known as white stone
 Diamond
• A transparent, colorless mineral composed of
carbon.
• It is the hardest substance known.
• Called a super abrasive, because of its ability to
abrade any other material
• Abrasives supplied in several forms, including
bonded abrasive rotary instruments, flexible
metal backed abrasive strips, and diamond
polishing pastes.
• Are used in ceramic and resin-based composite
materials.
 Emery
• A a grayish black corundum that is prepared in a fine
ground forms (sometimes also called “corundum.”)
• a natural form of aluminum oxide, and it looks like
grayish–black sand.
• Predominantly supplied in the form of coated
abrasive disks and is available in a variety of grit size.
– Found on “emery boards,” which are used to file our
fingernails.
– commonly found on arbor bands that attach to a dental
lathe for grinding custom trays and acrylic appliances.
•Used for finishing metal alloys or plastic material.
 Garnet
• Term garnet refers to several different minerals that
have similar properties – i.e silicates of manganese,
magnesium, iron, cobalt, and aluminum.
• These minerals are the silicates of aluminium,
cobalt, iron, magnesium and manganese.
• usually dark red in color.
• Extremely hard and when fractured during the
grinding operation, forms sharp, chisel-shaped
plates, making it a highly effective abrasive.
• Available on coated disks and arbor bands.
• Used in grinding metal alloys and plastic materials.
 Pumice

• a light gray silica-like, volcanic glass that is used as a

polishing agent on enamel, gold foil, and dental
amalgam and for finishing acrylic denture bases in the
laboratory.
• it is used mainly in grit form but can be found in some
rubber- bonded abrasives. Both forms are used on
plastic materials.
• Also the most common abrasive used in commercially
prepared prophylaxis polishing pastes
• flour of pumice is also used in polishing tooth enamel,
gold foil, dental amalgam, and acrylic resins.
 Quartz
• Most commonly used form of quartz is very hard,
colorless and transparent.
• The most abundant and widespread of minerals.
• Quartz crystalline particles are pulverized to form
sharp, angular particles that are useful in making
coated abrasive disks.
• Quartz abrasives are used mostly to finish metal
alloys and may be used to grind dental enamel
Sand
• a form of quartz and may be seen in various colors.
• Sand particles are rounded or angular in shape.
• They are typically bonded to paper disks for
grinding metals and plastics.

Cuttle
• a fine grade of quartz.
• These particles are bonded to paper disks and are
beige in color.
• available in coarse, medium, and fine grits.
Silex
• a commercial product
• a silica-like material such as quartz and is used as an
abrasive agent in the mouth.
• supplied as a powder and is mixed with various
liquids to form a paste or slurry.

Tin Oxide
• An extremely fine abrasive white powder
• used as a final polishing agent for teeth and metallic
restorations.
• Used as a paste or slurry in the same manner as Silex.
Aluminum Oxide
• a common abrasive used in dentistry, and it has
essentially replaced emery for several uses.
• is widely used in the form of disks and strips.
• It is also impregnated into rubber wheels and
points.
• It is the abrasive used in the popular “white
stones” to adjust enamel or to finish metal alloys
and ceramic materials.
 Bonded and Coated Abrasives
Introduction
• To use the abrasives previously discussed, they
must be attached to devices that permit an
abrasive action.
• Are in 2 types
– rotary-powered instruments
– Hand instruments e.g finishing strips
Diamond Burs
• Are very small diamond chips that are bonded to a shaft.
• Diamonds are very hard materials and make very good
abrasives.
• Depending on the size of the chips, diamond burs
can be used in many dental procedures.
Stones
• available in various shapes, sizes, and grits and they are
made from a variety of materials.
• “heatless stone” is illustrated below.
• Stones are used in clinical and laboratory
procedures.
Rubber Wheels or Points
• Molded rubber is impregnated with an
abrasive into a wheel or point shape.
• The rubber acts as the matrix (or binder) of
the abrasive agent. Examples are shown above
• Rubber wheels and points are designed for
both clinical and laboratory procedures.
Rubber Cups
• Abrasive agents are embedded in rubber cups
intended for polishing.
• available on disposable prophylaxis angles for
use in polishing procedures during an oral
prophylaxis, as shown below
• Rubber cups with embedded abrasives are not
intended to be used with prophylaxis polishing
pastes.
Disks and Strips
• Abrasive particles are bonded to a paper,
metal, or plastic backing to form disks or strips.
• Examples of coated disks and strips are shown
below
• They are used for intraoral and laboratory
procedures.
Powders
• Powders, such as chalk (whiting), pumice, silex and tin
oxide are used in conjunction with other agents and
devices. These agents and devices include:
1. “Vehicles,” such as water, alcohol, glycerin, fluoride or
mouthwash, to make pastes or slurries
2. Brushes, rubber cups, felt cones and wheels, and cloth
wheels.
• Some powders are used for laboratory and clinical
procedures, whereas others are used only in the
laboratory.
• Figure below shows an assortment of cloth wheels, felt
cones and wheels, bristle brushes, and rubber cups.
DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ABRASIVE

• should be irregular in shape so that it presents a sharp edge.

Irregular and jagged particles are more effective.
• Abrasive should be harder than the work it abrades. If it cannot
indent the surface to be abraded, it cannot cut it and the
abrasive dulls or wears out.
• The abrasive should possess a high impact strength. The abrasive
particle should fracture rather than dull out, so that a sharp
edge is always present. Fracture of an abrasive is also helpful in
shedding the debris accumulated from the work.
– A diamond does not fracture, it loses susbtances from the tip.
They become clogged when used on ductile metals. They are most
effective when used on brittle tooth enamel.
• Should have attrition resistance, so that it does not wear .