Development of novel glass-ceramics for dental applications by the Höland group

Abstract Remarkable progress has been achieved in glass-ceramics for dental applications by Dr. Holand et.al the last three decades. It had been early shown that glass-ceramics can play an important role in dental restoration, since glass is easily formed into shape of teeth by casting of melt and converted to crystallized products with high mechanical strength and natural appearance by subsequent heat treatment. However, mechanical strengths of the glass-ceramics obtained by this process were not enough for wide range of applications. Holand et.al proposed a novel method for fabrication of glass-ceramics, in which glass was molded into a shape of teeth after preliminary crystallization, and then subjected to final crystallization. They applied this method to glasses to precipitate leucite or lithium disilicate, and successfully obtained glass-ceramics having novel properties of high mechanical strength, high fracture toughness, machinability and natural appearance. The resultant glass-ceramics occupied important positions in materials for dental restoration.