New dental alloy for smaller, more durable dental implants

描述（由申请人提供）：迫切需要改进钛合金，以满足对口腔重建器械日益增长的需求，并促进新器械的设计。涉及超小设计的微创牙科的趋势需要具有改进的强度、韧性、磨损和抗疲劳性的材料。该计划旨在评估两种新型钛合金成分，这些成分有望满足这些要求，并成为下一代重建系统的首选材料。改进的钛合金将允许牙科器械设计者自由优化表面以增强骨整合，而不受基底合金的机械性能的限制。钛工业忽视了钛钨合金的潜在好处，因为通过商业钛合金的熔融技术生产这些合金是不切实际的。粉末处理技术不需要熔化，从而避免了铸锭冶金中面临的问题，例如钛和钨之间熔点和密度差异造成的不均匀性。初步研究表明，粉末金属生产的均质钛钨合金具有比牙科用钛合金更优越的上级机械性能，具有基本等同的钝化性，并且没有负面的毒理学效应。在第一阶段的研究中，将制造和评估两种有前途的合金，以证明这些钛钨合金的性能上级现有的钛牙科合金。评估将包括拉伸试验、金相分析、弹性模量试验和抗磨损试验。将在波士顿大学牙科医学院通过四点弯曲进行断裂韧性试验，并对牙科种植体试样进行疲劳试验。第二阶段和第三阶段将包括对选定材料特性的深入评估（包括机械、表面和生物相容性评估），以及与牙科行业合作伙伴合作设计和制造用于临床试验的原型组件。这些新型钛组合物具有满足牙科植入物行业当前对具有优异断裂韧性、抗疲劳性、抗磨损性和生物相容性的坚固、延展性植入物材料的需求的潜力。这一发展将导致减少灾难性种植失败的发生率，并促进未来改进微创牙科系统的发展。公共卫生意义：口腔修复的未来牙科将需要具有上级性能的材料。此外，虽然口腔重建装置是可靠的，但使用当前的材料确实会发生骨折。所提出的具有改进性能的创新型高性能钛合金将有助于开发新的重建器械，并显著减少骨折数量，从而节省时间、费用并减轻患者的额外不适。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a significant need for improved titanium alloys to meet the increasing demands placed on oral reconstructive devices and to facilitate the design of new devices. The trend to minimal invasive Dentistry involving ultra-small designs requires materials with improved strength, toughness, galling and fatigue resistance. This program is designed to evaluate two novel titanium alloy compositions that promise to meet these requirements and to become the materials of choice for the next generation of reconstructive systems. Improved titanium alloys will allow Dental device designers the freedom of optimizing surfaces to enhance osseointegration without being limited by the mechanical properties of the substrate alloy. The titanium industry has overlooked the potential benefits of titanium-tungsten alloys because these alloys are impractical to produce by the melt technology used for commercial titanium alloys. Powder processing technology does not require melting and thus circumvents the problems faced in ingot metallurgy such as inhomogeneity caused by the disparity of melting point and density between titanium and tungsten. Preliminary studies show that powder metal produced homogenous titanium-tungsten alloys have superior mechanical properties to the titanium alloys used in Dentistry with essentially equivalent passivity and no negative toxicological effects. In the Phase I research, two promising alloys will be manufactured and evaluated to demonstrate that the properties of these titanium tungsten alloys are superior to existing titanium Dental alloys. The evaluation will include tensile tests, metallographic analyses, elastic modulus tests and tests of galling resistance. Fracture toughness tests by four point bend and fatigue tests of Dental implant test specimens will be conducted at Boston University School of Dental Medicine. Phase II and III will include in-depth evaluations of selected material properties (including evaluation of mechanical, surface and biocompatibility), and the design and manufacture of prototype components for clinical trials in collaboration with Dental industry partners. These novel Ti compositions have the potential to meet the current need of the Dental implant industry for strong, ductile implant materials with excellent fracture toughness, fatigue resistance, galling resistance and biocompatibility. This development will lead to reducing the incidence of catastrophic implant failures and facilitate the future development of improved minimally invasive Dental systems. Public Health Significance: The future of oral reconstruction Dentistry will require materials with superior properties. In addition, although oral reconstruction devices are reliable, fractures do occur with current materials. The proposed innovative high performance titanium alloys with improved properties would contribute to the development of new reconstructive devices and significantly reduce the number of fractures saving time, expense and sparing patients additional discomfort.