2007 Volume 115 Issue 1344 Pages 455-459
Some recent developments of phosphate glass-ceramic biomaterials are briefly reviewed. Bioactive calcium pyrophosphate glass-ceramics can be prepared by including small amounts of TiO2 and Na2O (totally ≤10 mol%): they are easy to be machined using conventional tools and they are strongly coated on a β-type titanium alloy using a conventional glazing technique. These materials are expected to be applicable to some surgical treatments such as custom-made implants, Kirschner-wires and so on. New types of dental materials using phosphate glass-ceramics are also discussed. Phosphate glass-ceramics containing a large amount of TiO2 (∼20 mol%) includes a functional Nasicon-type crystal, which has silver-ion exchangeability with excellent chemical durability: they are applied to a castable dental crown with bacteriostatic activity. Phosphate glass-ceramic fillers, which are rapidly sintered by CO2 laser irradiation, have been also newly developed for sealing fissures at the surface of a tooth crown.