Dental titanium casting researches in China

Titanium is an ideal material for use in prosthodontics because of its biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and mechanical strength combined with its lightweight. Recently the use of titanium and titanium alloys for fixed restorations has increased substantially, mainly due to the improvement of techniques for the casting titanium and its alloys. This article reviewed the studies on titanium casting techniques in China. The rapid developments of the Chinese titanium industry make a good condition for doing researches on dental titanium castings. Now researches on dental titanium casting in China are very active and fast. In 1995 the first titanium casting machine was developed and worked well, by use of which titanium denture frameworks, titanium denture bases, titanium crowns and bridges and titanium-porcelain restorations could be made successfully. To expand the applications of titanium alloys as dental prosthodontic materials, TiZr alloy and TAMZ alloy for dental uses were also developed. Their physical and mechanical properties are better than pure titanium and their biocompatibilities are excellent. In order to solve problems of polishing and finishing of titanium castings, a series of surface treatment techniques and procedures were developed recently, including sandblasting, chemical dipping, mechanical polishing, chemical polishing, electrochemical polishing, and anodizing of titanium castings, which make the surface treatments of the titanium castings more easy and more efficient and have improved the surface qualities of the dental titanium castings.