Study of Electrochemical Behavior of Some Dental Alloys

The purpose of the study is to investigate the electrochemical behavior of two dental alloys: palladium alloy (Palidor) and Ni-Cr alloy (Verasoft) in three types of artificial saliva. Determination of corrosion potential and recording of linear and cyclic polarization curves were performed with PGP201 potentiostat (VoltaLab 21- Radelkis Copenhagen. In order to study the modifications produced on the surface of the electrodes, a complex optical microscope MC 1 research type (IOR, Romania) was used, adapted to a digital camera, which was connected to a computer for the digital acquisition of images . Two metal alloys based on Ag-Pd and Ni-Cr were used for the experiments. The materials used came from different types of dental restorations removed from the oral cavity of the patients after a 5-15 years period. As corrosion environments, three artificial saliva were used: Fusayama, Afnor and Rondelli. The Pd-Ag dental alloy exhibits a very good corrosion resistance and the treatment in the Afnor saliva does not affect the surface of the alloy. Electrochemical behavior in Fusayama-Meyer s saliva of the alloy surface results in a series of spots representing deposits of insoluble salts resulting from the oxidation process, while in the Rondelli saliva there is a series of small corrosion points on the alloy surface. The behavior of the Verasoft alloy in the Afnor and Rondelli saliva is similar; In both solutions, the potential breakthroughs are very close, but in Fusayama-Meyer s saliva, the potential for initiation of corrosion points is very low (206 mV), a potential that can be encountered in the oral cavity. All metals and metal alloys, even the noble and semi-precious ones, are susceptible to corrosion, forming compounds with properties different from those of the metal or base alloy, which change their surface condition. Metallic dental restorations are permanently affected by the factors of the oral environment (physical-mechanical, chemical and biological), being subjected to a continuous process of degradation.