aInstitute of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, 136 HanZhong Road, Nanjing, 210029, People's Republic of China.
bState Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, Southeast University; Jiangsu Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, 2 SiPaiLou Road, Nanjing, 210096, People's Republic of China.
Cergo (DeguDent, Hanau, Germany) dental ceramics were heat-pressed followed the manufacture's instruction. Whole-spectrum direct-reading inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrograph and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer were used to characterize the chemical composition. X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscope were used to characterize the crystal form and morphology. Thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyzer was applied to elucidate the crystallization kinetics. The mechanical properties (microhardness and density) were measured. The data were analyzed with equal variance followed by two-sample t tests, and significant increase was found (P<0.05). Tetragonal leucite crystals were found embedded in the glass matrix after heat-pressing.
heat-pressing, dental ceramics, microstructure, Cergo
