Using new raw materials and a new manufacturing process Kuraray Noritake Dental has created an improved zirconia material that exhibits both higher flexural strength and higher fracture toughness than the yttria partially-stabilized zirconia in wide use in the dental industry today.
While conventional zirconia weakens over as the crystal structure changes when exposed to the hydrothermal conditions of the intraoral environment, the new zirconia formulation has a stable chemical structure in intraoral conditions, according to a press release. The new zirconia can be deformed to a high degree without fracturing, and it does not require hot isostatic pressing.
The company is currently pursuing the marketing of this new material for dental applications, the manufacture of prosthetic joints and industrial uses.
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Source: Kuraray Noritake Dental