Compressive Properties of Enamel, Dental Cements, and Gold

¹ University of Michigan, School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The compressive properties of enamel, silicate cement, zinc phosphate cement, and dental gold were determined.

Cusp and side enamel were shown to have similar compressive properties, which were substantially higher than those for dentin.

Silicate and zinc phosphate cements were found to have compressive properties of the same order of magnitude as that determined for human dentin. The age of the specimens and the powder-to-liquid ratio affected the compressive properties of the cements.

Type I gold had a proportional limit substantially lower than tooth structure, while type IV gold, in the hardened condition, had a proportional limit considerably higher than enamel or dentin. The elastic moduli of type I or IV gold, however, were comparable to values obtained for human enamel.

The compressive properties obtained for the various materials showed that higher values were obtained for the proportional limit and compressive strength when small rather than large, specimens were utilized.

The proportional limit and compressive-strength values for enamel were found to be higher than usual when the length-to-diameter ratios of the cylindrical specimens were less than 1.3.

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