Influence of ZnO on the crystal phase and properties of lithium disilicate glass-ceramic doped with Ag2O

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the influence of ZnO on antibacterial properties, flexural strength and translucency of a novel dental lithium disilicate glass-ceramic doped with Ag2O by changing crystal phase composition and microstructure. Investigations were carried out by means of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, antibacterial test, toxicity test, flexural strength and translucency test, respectively. Research showed that the introduction of ZnO increased the antibacterial activities of the lithium disilicate glass-ceramic doped with Ag2O. But with the increasing of the ZnO content, the translucency and flexural strength reduced, because the introduction of ZnO hampered the transition from Li2SiO3 to Li2Si2O5 and formed the crystal phase of Li3Zn0.5SiO4. The flexural strength values of glass ceramic were above 300 MPa when the content of ZnO was below 4 wt%. The lithium disilicate glass-ceramic doped with 0.2 wt% Ag2O and different content of ZnO had a large range of translucency. This material can be better applied to dental restoration.