The Importance Of Flexural Strength
Why does Flexural Strength Matter When Choosing Restorative Materials?
What you need to know about flexural strength before choosing a crown material. In this article, we will explain this to you.
Flexural strength: one of the key values for evaluating the stability of a material.
Flexural strength is a term often used in the dental laboratory world. It is a unit used to measure the pressure or force strength per unit area that a material can withstand before breaking. We generally express it in the international unit Mpa. When it comes to the durability of materials such as zirconia, flexural strength is a key value. So every dental material supplier will provide Mpa value in product details.
Note: The measurement method is different!
From a scientific point of view, flexural strength reflects the resistance of a material to deformation, That is, how much force is needed to break the test sample, and the resistance value of the sample to the force is the flexural strength. Exceeding this value, the test article will break. The higher the number, the more impact the material can withstand. Conversely, the smaller the value, the less impact the material can withstand. However, the flexural strength determined during testing depends to a large extent on the measurement method used and the surface treatment of the test sample, for example, whether the material has been polished or ground. Therefore, the measurement methods of different materials are different, and the numerical comparison between different materials is not very meaningful.
Practical advantages of high flexural strength:
1. Large range or long span repair
The stronger the material, the more elements the repair can contain. Or put it this way, the wider the repair, the stronger the material.
2. Minimally invasive treatment options with thin wall thickness
High flexural strength is also beneficial for repairing wall thickness. High-strength materials allow for low wall thicknesses. This means that materials that offer high flexural strength and high fracture resistance can produce very thin restorations and are therefore ideal for minimally invasive treatment options.