Fig 1.
Graphical presentation of dental heat-pressing equipment.
Table 1.
Different heat-pressing procedures with varied temperature and holding time.
Table 2.
The percent of material pressed and flexural strength after different heat-pressing procedures.
Fig 2.
X-ray diffraction patterns of experimental lithium disilicate glass ceramic.
(a) before heat-pressing. (b) after heat-pressing at 950°C. No change in crystalline compositions was observed. Lithium disilicate (Li2Si2O5) was represented as the major crystalline phase. The intensity of the main diffraction peak increased after heat-pressing (b).
Fig 3.
SEM photographs of the etched polished surface of lithium disilicate glass ceramics.
(a) before heat-pressing, (b) heat-pressed at 950°C, (c) heat-pressed at 960°C, (d) heat-pressed at 970°C, (e) heat-pressed at 980°C. Crystal size of ELDC showed a small extent of growth as heat-pressing temperature increased and crystal alignment along the direction of pressing was observed in the heat-pressed specimens.
Fig 4.
SEM images of polished surface of experimental glass ceramics.
(a) heat-pressed at 950°C, (b) heat-pressed at 960°C, showing almost no pores; (c) heat-pressed at 980°C, showing distribution of some spherical pores.