Adhesion of adhesive resin to dental precious metal alloys. Part I. New precious metal alloys with base metals for resin bonding.

New dental precious metal alloys for resin bonding without alloy surface modification were developed by adding base metals (In, Zn, or Sn). Before this, binary alloys of Au, Ag, Cu, or Pd containing In, Zn, or Sn were studied for water durability and bonding strength with 4-META resin. The adhesion ability of the binary alloys was improved by adding In equivalent to 15% of Au content, Zn equivalent to 20% of Ag content, and In, Zn, or Sn equivalent to 5% of Cu content. There was no addition effect of the base metals on Pd, however 15% of In addition improved adhesion with Pd-based alloys containing equi-atomic % of Cu and Pd. The alloy surfaces were analyzed by XPS and showed that oxides such as In2O3, ZnO, or SnO play an important role in improving the adhesive ability of the alloys.