A literature summary on zirconium dioxide

Dental zirconia

Ceramics have been used in restorative dentistry for decades due to esthetics and biocompatibility, but still, properties like brittleness and low fracture strength have limited the use to anterior regions of the mouth. With the introduction of zirconia as an indirect restorative material in the 1990s, the use of ceramics in dentistry increased significantly. Improved mechanical properties, like fracture strength and toughness, has been the main reason for zirconia’s popularity. With several improvements on translucency since 2014, its popularity has even increased, making it one of the most used indirect restorative materials in dentistry. Even though zirconia is mainly used for tooth and implant supported restorations, dental implants and orthodontic brackets partially or fully made of zirconia are also available on the market.

Scientist Mina Aker Sagen at NIOM and Engineer Freya Sofia Andersen have written a literature summary on zirconium dioxide in the newly published 2024 edition of “Aktuel Nordisk Odontologi”. If you want to read more about basic properties of zirconium dioxide and its use in dentistry, you can click the link below to find the full article.

Future aspects

Many advancements have occurred in the development of zirconia as a prosthetic material, and as mentioned in the article, research is still ongoing. For instance, it has been demonstrated that producing zirconia with nanoparticles achieves even better translucency without compromising strength and fracture toughness. Such a material can address the challenge of optimizing both mechanical and optical properties. Changes are also made in the production of restorations. For example, several manufacturers cite an alternative high-speed sintering process that is faster than conventional sintering procedures. This could help reduce the energy consumption associated with this high-temperature process and pave the way for chair-side production of restorations.