Experimental observation of silver and gold penetration into dental ceramic by means of a radiotracer technique

A radiotracer technique was used to study silver and gold diffusion into dental porcelain under experimental conditions close to the real conditions in prosthetic laboratories for porcelain bakes. It was clearly shown that these non-oxidizable elements were able to diffuse into the ceramic as well as oxidizable ones. The penetration depth varied widely according to the element. The ratio DAg/DAu was about 10(3) around 850 degrees C. In contrast to gold, the silver diffusion rate was high enough to allow silver, from the metallic alloy, to be present at the external ceramic surface after diffusion into the ceramic. Hence, the greening of dental porcelains baked on silver-rich alloys could be explained mainly by a solid-state diffusion mechanism