Corrosion of gallium alloys in vivo

The aim of this work was to study the corrosion of gallium alloys in vivo. Three gallium alloys were tested: GF alloy, Galloy and an experimental GaIn alloy. An amalgam was applied as a control. After ageing for a minimum of two weeks, one disc of each of these alloys was mounted with the polished side up in the buccal surfaces of 17 acrylic dentures. Eight sets of the specimens were retrieved after exposure to the oral cavity for 2-4 months, and another seven were retrieved after 6-9 months. Corrosion of the polished cross-sections of the specimens was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Only the CuGa2 phase was found to corrode substantially in all three of the alloys investigated, leaving behind holes up to 20 microm deep. This is consistent with the corrosion reported after immersion tests in a solution of 0.1 mol lactic acid and 0.1 mol NaCl for 7 days. Such in vitro tests are also reported to cause distinct corrosion of the Sn phase in the gallium alloys. However, a salient feature of the corrosion in vivo was the lack of detectable dissolution of this phase. Thus, for gallium alloys, the accelerated in vitro immersion method produced results which did not agree with clinical observations. Large variations in the corrosion of the CuGa2 were observed from patient to patient. The amount of corrosion on the Galloy specimens appeared to be less and on a finer scale than on specimens of the two other alloys. The depth of corrosion was thus shallower than for this alloy. This finding indicates that there is room for further improvement of the corrosion resistance by modifying the microstructures. Less overall corrosion was found for the amalgam control than for the gallium alloys.