Dental restorative materials

This page is about types of dental restorative materials. For dental fillings see dental restoration

Dental materials are specially fabricated materials, designed for use in dentistry. There are many different types of dental material, and their characteristics vary according to their intended purpose. Examples include temporary dressings, dental restorations (fillings, crowns, bridges), endodontic materials (used in root canal therapy), impression materials, prosthetic materials (dentures), dental implants, and many others.

A temporary dressing is a dental filling which is not intended to last in the long term. They are interim materials which may have therapeutic properties. A common use of temporary dressing occurs if root canal therapy is carried out over more than one appointment. In between each visit, the pulp canal system must be protected from contamination from the oral cavity, and a temporary filling is placed in the access cavity. Examples include:

Dental cements are used most often to bond indirect restorations such as crowns to the natural tooth surface. Examples include:

Dental impressions are negative imprints of teeth and oral soft tissues from which a positive representation can be cast. They are used in prosthodontics (to make dentures), orthodontics, restorative dentistry, dental implantology and oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Impression materials are designed to be liquid or semi-solid when first mixed, then set hard in a few minutes, leaving imprints of oral structures.

Common dental impression materials include sodium alginate, polyether, and silicones. Historically, plaster of Paris, zinc oxide eugenol, and agar have been used.

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