A study of dental porcelain solubility--dissolving of component elements and resultant surface roughness and abrasion.

Jacket crowns, metal-bonded porcelain crowns and bridges, made by vacuumfiring dental porcelain, have been considered comparatively stable in the oral cavity. In clinical practice, however, stains, slight surface roughness or abraison are sometimes observed on porcelain prosthetic appliances that have been retained for a long time. But studies related to the durability of such porcelain prosthetic appliances in the environment of the oral cavity are practically unavailable. In the circumstances, the authors, as the first step in the consideration of the process of porcelain prosthetic appliance deterioration in the oral cavity, first applied the glass corrosion testing method[1] from a material science-oriented viewpoint to examine the solubility of the fired porcelain products and also to study the surface roughness and abrasion of the fired porcelain products resulting from dissolution.