Ion leaching from dental ceramics during static in vitro corrosion testing

Dental ceramics are often called inert materials. It can be hypothesized, however, that differences in the composition, microstructure, and environmental conditions will affect the degree of corrosion degradation in an aqueous environment. The aims of the study were, therefore, to study the ion dissolution from glass-phase ceramics, with or without crystalline inclusions, and from all-crystalline ceramics and to compare the effects of different corrosion media. Ceramic specimens were produced from glass-phase and oxide ceramics and given an equivalent surface smoothness, after which they were subjected to in vitro corrosion (Milli-Q water at 37 +/- 2 degrees C for 18 h and 4% acetic acid solution at 80 +/- 2 degrees C for 18 h, respectively). The temperature of the corrosion solution was slowly increased until it reached 80 +/- 2 degrees C to reduce the risk of microcrack formation at the surface. The analyses of ion leakage were performed with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. A large number of inorganic elements leached out from the various dental ceramics. The major leaching elements were sodium and potassium; in the acid-corrosion experiments, there were also magnesium, silicon, and aluminum and, on a lower scale, yttrium, calcium, and chromium. The various glass-phase ceramics displayed significant differences in ion leakage and significantly higher leakage values than all-crystalline alumina and zirconia ceramics. No significant difference in dissolution was found between high and low-sintering glass-phase ceramics or between glass-phase ceramics with high volume fractions of crystallites in the glass phase in comparison with those with lower crystalline content. It can be concluded, therefore, that none of the dental ceramics studied are chemically inert in an aqueous environment.