The purpose of this study was to compare the flexure strength of zirconium dioxide materials designed for different sintering techniques before and after surface exposure to an acidic solution and to correlate the dissolution of the materials with strength data.

Within the limitation of the conditions of this study, treatment of alumina oxide ceramic surfaces with a plasma spray coating or a low-fusing porcelain pearl layer significantly increased the SBS of a resin luting agent to the ceramic surface.

Three brands of dental ceramics for veneering to titanium: TitanBond (O’Hara), Ti-Ceram (Ducera) and Titankeramik (Vita) were tested to compare their fracture properties in wet and in dry conditions.

The properties of an alloy with 65% Pd, 30% Co and 5% Ga have been investigated with consideration to the requirements of a ceramic fusing alloy. The composition of the alloy was at the outset chosen because of a reasonably low melting point of 1200°C. The mechanical properties were found to be satisfactory (σ0.2≈ 530 MPa, total elongation ≈5%).