Recent Research and Development in Metallic Materials for Biomedical, Dental and Healthcare Products Applications

Non-toxic allergy free alloying elements are mostly selected for preparing metallic biomaterials. Currently, functionalities such as low modulus, shape memory, super elasticity, etc. are required for the metallic biomaterials, especially for β type titanium alloys. The harmonization of metallic, ceramic, and polymer biomaterials is needed for advanced biomaterials in the future. Titanium and its alloys are attracting considerable attention with regard to applications not only in the biomedical field, but also for dental and healthcare products. In dentistry, titanium and its alloys are applied to dental products such as crowns, inlays, bridges, etc., as well as dental implants. For fabricating dental products, the dental precision casting process is important. A new dental precision casting process using calcia is currently being developed. Noble alloys such as gold base or silver base alloys are widely applied for the precision casting of dental products. Allergy-free elements, particularly Pd-free low- noble dental alloys are required.