Creep-fatigue as a possible cause of dental amalgam margin failure

Fracture of the margins is the most common cause of failure of dental amalgam restorations. Both corrosion and creep have been identified as possible contributors to this type of failure. The stresses that induce creep may arise from the continued setting expansion of the amalgam, the formation of corrosion products, mastication, or from the thermal expansion of the amalgam during ingestion of hot foods. The latter two are low-frequency cyclic stresses. The amalgams used in dentistry have fusion temperatures only about 40 degrees C above mouth temperature, and they experience grain boundary sliding during creep deformation. Since grain boundary sliding, low-frequency cyclic stresses, and a temperature near the fusion temperature of the alloy are prerequisites for so-called "creep-fatigue fracture", this type of fracture may contribute to amalgam margin failure. Amalgam made from seven different alloys was condensed into stainless steel dies. After being allowed to set for seven days, the specimens were thermally cycled between 4 degrees C and 50 degrees C for 500 and 1000 cycles. Amalgam margin integrity was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy both before and after each cycling period. The amount of margin fracture was calculated after 1000 cycles. Thermal cycling of amalgam restorations placed in stainless steel dies resulted in predominantly intergranular fracturing of the amalgam margins, indicating that creep-fatigue failure may be a significant contributor to in vivo margin fracturing.