Electrochemical and corrosion behavior of two chromium dental alloys in artificial bioenvironments

The purpose of this study is to compare the corrosion and tarnish behavior of NiCrMo and CoCrMo cast dental alloys in artificial bio environments. The cobalt chromium alloys are known and used in dentistry for many years, but its difficult machinability because of the strength and hardness, is an argument for scientists to study alternative materials with comparable biocompatibility. On the other hand, for dentistry devices beside corrosion behavior is important the aesthetic so, the used alloys have to preserve their shining and do not stain. The corrosion resistance has been evaluated using the Atomic mass spectroscopy method for ion release determination, the anodic polarization curves and the open circuit potential – time monitoring for corrosion behavior evaluation and optical microscopy for the structure analysis. The tarnish tendency of alloys was estimated using the method of cyclic immersion with frequency of 10 seconds for each minute during 72 hours in Na2S containing solution. The most important conclusion is that the alloys are comparable from corrosion and tarnish point of view, but we recommend to use the nickel base alloy only for orthodontic devices implanted for short periods of time, because of higher quantity of released ions.