Abstract Scope |
When the pulp of a tooth becomes infected or damaged, a root canal is often performed. When the pulp of a damaged tooth is healthy, however, a dentist may attempt to prevent a root canal by sealing the pulp with a cement in a technique called pulp capping. Previously, a bioactive cement composed of two glass compositions – sodium metasilicate and calcium phosphate – was developed. The setting time, sealing ability, and in-vitro phase maturation of the cement were shown to be favorable. To investigate the effects of particle morphology, a flame-spheroidization technique has been used to convert the calcium phosphate particles into microspheres. During spheroidization, differential cooling at the surface of the particles leads to a compressive stress layer, expected to affect the corrosion rate of the particles. As particle corrosion drives setting, the effects of thermal stresses on microsphere hardness, corrosion properties, setting time, and biocompatibility were investigated. |