Physical

Properties of
Dental Materials
These are properties which are not related to force
application.
These are:
1- Mass-related properties:
Density
2- Thermal properties:
- Thermal conductivity
- Coefficient of thermal expansion and contraction
- Heat of fusion & latent heat of fusion
- Melting and freezing temperature
- Specific heat
3- Less specific properties:
- Water sorption.
- Fluidity, viscosity and plasticity.
4- Optical properties
Mass- Related Properties:
Density
It is the mass per unit volume of the material.
Units are gm/cm3 or pound/in2
Clinical importance in Dentistry:
1- Retention of the upper denture.
2- Weight of complete or partial denture.
3- During casting.
 Thermal Properties:
1- Thermal Conductivity:
It is the amount of heat in calories or joules passing per
second through a body 1cm thick, 1cm2 cross sectional area
when the temperature difference is 1°C

Clinical importance in Dentistry:

1- Metallic filling materials.
2- Metallic denture base materials.
2- Thermal Coefficient of expansion( α)
The change in length per unit length of the material
for a 1°C change in temperature is called the
linear coefficient of thermal expansion(α)

α= L final- L original
L original x (°C final- °C original)
Clinical importance in Dentistry:
Close matching of the coefficient of thermal
expansion (α) is important between:
1-The tooth and the restorative materials to prevent
marginal leakage.
Opening and closing of gap results in
→ breakage of marginal seal between
the filling and the cavity wall,
this breakage of seal
(marginal percolation) leads to:

i. Marginal leakage ii. Discoloration

iii. Recurrent caries iv. Hypersensitivity.
2-Porcelain and metal in ceramometallic
restorations (crowns and bridges) to provide
metal ceramic bonding.

3-Artificial tooth and denture base to avoid crazing.

 3- Heat of fusion
Heat of fusion (L) is the amount of heat in calories or
joules required to convert l gm of a material from the
solid to the liquid state at the melting temperature.
It is calculated as follows:
Q Where L: is the heat of fusion.
L = ---------------- Q: is the total heat
absorbed.
m m: mass of the substance melted

As long as the mass is molten, the heat of fusion is retained by the

liquid. When the liquid is frozen or solidified, this heat is
liberated. It is called "Latent heat of fusion".
Latent heat of fusion
It is the amount of heat in calories or joules
liberated when 1 gm of a material is converted
from liquid to solid state.
Importance in dentistry:
During casting, the metal must be heated 100 °C
more than its melting temperature for proper
melting
Heat of fusion Latent heat of fusion
Dental significance
During casting metal must be heated 100°C
above its melting temperature

L
Tm L+S
S

Time
4-Melting and freezing temperature
Dental Importance:
For the fabrication of indirect metallic restorations
(casting), the melting temperature of metals and alloys
is important in determining the melting machine used
for casting

Tm

Time
5-Specific heat
It is the quantity of heat needed to raise the
temperature of one gram of the substance 1°C
Therefore
Metals have low specific heat,
while non metals have high specific heat

Importance in dentistry:
- Because of the low specific heat of dental gold alloys, prolonged heating is
unnecessary, during casting
 Less specific properties
1- Water Sorption:
It represents the amount of water adsorbed on the
surface and absorbed into the body of the
material.
Importance:
1- Acrylic resin denture base materials have the
tendency for water sorption.
2- Hydrocolloid impression materials will imbibe
water if immersed in it leading to dimensional
changes.
 2-Fluidity, viscosity and
plasticity:

Fluidity is the tendency of liquids to flow.

Viscosity is the resistance to flow.

Plasticity is a property related to solids or

semisolids and indicates that the material is
easily and permanently deformed under
force.
 Optical Properties
The perception of the Color of an object is
the result of a physiological response to a
physical stimulus (light).
Light is an electromagnetic radiation that can
be detected by the human eye. It can be seen
that the visible electromagnetic radiation is
in the range from 400-700 nanometers.
 Properties of materials in relation to light
transmission and absorption
Transparency
is a property of a material, that allows the passage of light in such a manner that little distortion takes
place so that objects can be clearly seen through them
e.g. glass, pure acrylic resin.

Translucency
is a property of the material, which allows the passage of some light and scatters or reflects
the rest . In such manner, the object cannot be clearly seen through them
Translucency decreases with increasing the scattering centers.
e.g. tooth enamel, porcelain, composite and pigmented acrylic resin.
Opacity is a property of the material that
prevents the passage of light. Opaque
material absorbs all of the light. Objects
cannot be seen through them.

-Black color materials absorb all light colors.

-White color materials reflect all light colors.
-Blue color materials absorb all light colors
but reflect its color.
 Interaction of light and matter
When a beam of light encounters or falls on a
surface of a medium, the following may
occur :
1- Reflection:
A- Smooth surface: Reflections on a smooth surface give a
glossy appearance to the surface → Specular Reflection
Smooth surface: angle of incidence = angle of reflection
The restoration should have a highly smooth and polished
surface to simulate the tooth structure and match it.
B- Rough surface: Reflections of light on a rough surface are
diffused (i.e: in all directions). → Diffuse Reflection
The surface appears to have little gloss (i.e dull)
2- Refraction:
It is the change of the direction of a beam of light on entering
second medium.
Refraction results from the difference in refractive indices of the
two media.
For perfect matching the refractive index of the restoration
should be **equal to the refractive index of the tooth.

→ transparent solid
while ** large differences result in opaque materials.
Example: Control of refractive index of the filler and
matrix phases in composite resins and porcelain.
3-Scattering:
If light rays passing through a medium are obstructed by any different
inclusions it will be redirected in another direction and is attenuated.
i.e The
original beam is weakened by scattering in a
direction away from the observer eye →
↑ OPACITY ↓ TRANSLUCENCY.
Importance in dentistry:
1- Opacifiers & pigments added to composite resins act as scattering centers that
give rise to opaque shades of the material.

2- Incorporated air bubbles

in a restoration act as
scattering centers.
4. Transmission:
Light passing through an optical medium
without attenuation
→ completely transmitted.
Total transmission occurs in perfectly transparent materials.
If part of the light is transmitted and part is reflected
( i.e. diffuse transmission), the material appears translucent.

Complete Transmission Transparent

Incomplete Transmission Translucent
No Transmission (absorption) Opaque
 COLOR
Color parameters:
A- Hue: It is the dominant wave length. It represents
the color of the material,
i.e yellow, green, red and blue.
B- Chroma: It represents the strength of the color or
degree of saturation of the color (color intensity).
A beaker of water containing one drop of colorant is lower in
chroma than a beaker of water containing ten drops of the
same colorant.
C- Value:
It represents the lightness or darkness of color
(the amount of grayness).
A black standard is assigned a value of O,
whereas a white standard is assigned 10.
***A tooth of low value appears
gray and non–vital = DEAD,
therefore, it is the most important parameter.
Because it is intimately related to the
aspect of vitality in human teeth.
 Factors affecting color
appearance and selection
Shade guide is used for color matching. So, it
is important to match colors under
appropriate conditions.
1- Source:
Different sources have different color
content. i.e Incandesnt light has a color
content different from that of
fluorescent light.
Metamerism: It is the change of color
matching of two objects under different
light sources.
Metameric pairs: Two objects that are
matched in color under one light source
but are not matched under other light
sources form metameric pair.
Isomeric pair: They are color matched
under all light sources.
Thus, if possible, color matching should be done
under two or more different light sources.
2- Surrounding:
Colors of wall, lips or clothes of the patient
modify the type of light reaching the object.
3- Object:
A- Translucency:
It controls lightness or darkness of color.
High translucency gives a lighter color
appearance (higher value) i.e more vital tooth
appearance
B- Surface texture (surface finish):
This determines the relative amount of light
reflected from the surface, smooth surface
appears brighter than rough surface.

C- Presence of scattering centers as

inclusions or voids:
This increase opacity and lower the value
(more dark)
D- Fluorescene:
It makes the teeth bright and vital, as it
increases the brightness.

E- Thickness:
The thickness of a restoration can affect its
appearance.
Increase in thickness, increase opacity, and
lower the value.

F- Metamerism
4- Observer:
A- Color response:
Eye responds differently among individuals.
B- Color Vision:
Some individuals may have color blindness
and inability to distinguish certain colors.
C- Color Fatigue:
Constant stimulus of one color decreases the
response to that color.
 Laser
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
The principle of laser production is simply that an element
or compound (medium) can be excited by high energy to
produce a special type of light called laser

Characteristics of laser beam:

a- Monochromatic:
all photons have the same wave length.
b- Coherent :
all waves are bin phase (have the same speed ).
c- Collimated:
all waves are parallel ( minimum divergence )
 Clinical applications of
laser
a- Surgery for removal of soft
tissues.
b- Removal of initial carious
lesions.
c- Curing of composite resin.
 COLORs
Primary colors:
Blue, green and red are primary colors.
Combining suitable proportions of wave lengths of the three
primary colors results in white.
Secondary colors: Each secondary color
(cyan ,magenta & yellow) results from the combination of
two primary colors, e.g . green and red gives yellow,
blue and red gives magenta, blue and green gives cyan.
Complementary colors : Two colors are complementary to
each other when their combination results in white e.g . yellow is
the complementary color of blue .