In Vitro Degradation of Mg-Doped ZrO2 Bioceramics at the Interface with Xerostom® Saliva Substitute Gel

Liliana Bizo; Marieta Mureşan-Pop; Réka Barabás; Lucian Barbu-Tudoran; Antonela Berar

doi:10.3390/ma16072680

In Vitro Degradation of Mg-Doped ZrO₂ Bioceramics at the Interface with Xerostom^® Saliva Substitute Gel

Materials (Basel). 2023 Mar 28;16(7):2680. doi: 10.3390/ma16072680.

Authors

Liliana Bizo^{1

2}, Marieta Mureşan-Pop², Réka Barabás³, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran^{4

5}, Antonela Berar⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos Str., RO-400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
² Nanostructured Materials and Bio-Nano-Interfaces Center, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Bio-Nano-Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, 42 Treboniu Laurian Str., RO-400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
³ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Hungarian Line of Study, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos Str., RO-400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
⁴ Electron Microscopy Center "Prof. C. Craciun", Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 5-7 Clinicilor Str., RO-400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
⁵ Electron Microscopy Integrated Laboratory, National Institute for R&D of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donath Str., RO-400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
⁶ Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 32 Clinicilor Str., RO-400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Abstract

Zirconia-based bioceramics, one of the most important materials used for dental applications, have been intensively studied in recent years due to their excellent mechanical resistance and chemical inertness in the mouth. In this work, the structural, morphological and dissolution properties of the Zr_1-xMg_xO₂ (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3) system, prepared by the conventional ceramic method, were evaluated before and after immersion in saliva substitute gel (Xerostom^®, Biocosmetics Laboratories, Madrid, Spain), one of the most common topical dry mouth products used in dentistry. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) techniques were employed to investigate the phase transformations and morphology of the ceramics during the degradation process in Xerostom^®. In vitro analyses showed overall good stability in the Xerostom^® environment, except for the x = 0.05 composition, where significant t- to m-ZrO₂ transformation occurred. In addition, the strong interconnection of the grains was maintained after immersion, which could allow a high mechanical strength of the ceramics to be obtained.

Keywords: IR spectroscopy; SEM/EDS; XRPD; bioceramics; magnesia-doped zirconia.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.