Influence of Water Infiltration and Flexural Strength Change with Glazing Treatment of Dental Porcelain

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of water infiltration and flexural strength changes in dental porcelain with glazing treatment. The block specimens were prepared as experimental materials, using feldspar type commercial dental porcelain; then, these were fired at $940^{\circ}C$ for 1 minute. The fired specimens were polished with a dimension of $40{\times}5.5{\times}5mm$. The specimens were distributed to two experimental groups: with and without glazing treatment specimens (n=5), and they were immersed in a solution of pH 7 for 3, 7, and 20 days at $40^{\circ}C$ after fabrication. To evaluate the flexural strength changes with water infiltration treatment in specimens with and without glazing, the 3-point flexural test was performed, using a universal testing machine until failure occurred. Starting powder and fired specimens consisted of amorphous and leucite crystalline phase. The Vickers hardness of fired specimens was more than 1.6 times higher than that of the enamel of natural teeth. According to porosimeter results, the specimens without glazing treatment exhibited a porosity of about 14.7%, whereas the glazed specimens exhibited the lowest porosity at about 1.1%. The average flexural strength of glazed specimens was higher than the flexural strength of specimens without glazing treatment (p<0.05). The flexural strength of all specimens with and without glazing treatment deteriorated with accelerated aging in the solution. In addition, significant differences between these two treatment groups were observed in all of the specimens treated at various water infiltration periods (p<0.05). The exposure of internal pores and micro-cracks in the surface due to polishing of the fired specimens influenced mechanical behaviors. Especially, the flexural strength in specimens without glazing treatment has shown significant degradation with the infiltration of water. Therefore, this study suggests that glazing processes can improve mechanical properties of dental porcelain.

치과도재의 Glazing 여부에 따른 수분침투 정도와 굽힘강도에 미치는 영향

본 연구에서는 소성한 치과도재 시편에 대해 glazing 처리 여부에 따른 수분 침투와 기계적 물성의 비교분석을 통해 glazing 처리의 중요한 의미를 도출하고자 하였다. 또한, 제한된 가속 시효처리 방법으로 구강 내 환경에서 치과용 수복물의 내구수명 예측이 가능하였으며 수분 내에서 가속 시효처리를 통하여 치과도재는 수분 노출로 인한 열화가 일어나고 굽힘강도 저하 현상을 보였다. 치과도재의 glazing 처리를 통해 연마 시 발생하는 시편 표면의 흠집 또는 소성시 발생하는 미세균열이나 기공의 노출을 억제함으로써 굽힘강도 향상 결과를 보였다. 또한 glazing 처리한 시편이 가속 시효처리의 시간이 증가할수록 강도 저하 현상을 보이긴 하지만 glazing 처리를 하지 않은 시편과 비교하여 볼 때, 열화되는 속도가 작은 것을 알 수 있었다. 따라서 구강 내에서 치과도재 보철의 내구성을 확보하기 위해서 영구장착 전 glazing 처리를 반드시 시행할 것을 권하며, 수분 침투 억제 방법에 대해서도 향후 체계적인 연구가 되어야 할 것으로 생각한다.