Performance of dental biomaterials: conference report

On August 13-18, 1989, a dental conference, entitled "Dental Biomaterials: Assessment of Performance Based on Engineering and Statistical Methods", was held in Santa Barbara, California. This conference was sponsored by the Engineering Foundation with co-sponsorship by the United States Army Institute of Dental Research, the United States Naval Dental Research Institute, Block Drug Co., Dentsply International, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The objective of this conference was to explore engineering and statistical methods for assessing the resistance of dental biomaterials to structural degradation and failure and for predicting the relative reliability of dental restorations and prostheses under clinical conditions. The conference was designed to evaluate the merits of established and new technology relative to the performance of dental materials. Analytical and experimental methods included fracture mechanics, conventional mechanical tests, adhesion tests, fractographic analysis, finite element analysis, statistical analysis, tribology, image analysis, x-ray diffraction, and scanning tunneling microscopy. The central theme was the development of a systematic approach to predict material performance under clinical conditions based on stress analysis, correlation of clinical data with in vitro data, and fracture surface characterization based on qualitative and quantitative methods. Supported in part by NIDR Grant No. DE06672.