Dissimilar brazing between glass-ceramic and titanium: A new strategy to fabricate one-piece dental implant

In conventional dental implant procedures, glass-ceramic dental crowns were traditionally bonded to titanium (Ti) abutment using organic glue cementation. However, degradation of the adhesive could result in crown loss. Therefore, it is crucial to explore alternative strategies for bonding the crown and abutment. In this study, we propose employing dissimilar brazing as a new approach for joining these two components. To assess its feasibility, Ti/ZrO2–SiO2 nanocrystalline glass-ceramic (ZS-NCGC) joints were fabricated by brazing using Ni/Zr composite foils. The corrosion behavior and mechanism of the Ti/ZS-NCGC joint in artificial saliva were investigated. The complex interface of the Ti/ZS-NCGC joint increased the corrosion current and decreased the impedance, resulting in slightly lower corrosion resistance than the Ti substrate. However, after soaking the Ti/ZS-NCGC joint in acidic artificial saliva for 7 days, no pitting corrosion appeared, demonstrating excellent corrosion resistance. In addition, after adding highly destructive F ions, corrosion mainly occurred on layered α-(Ti, Zr), blocky (Ti, Zr)2Ni, and (α-(Ti, Zr) + (Ti, Zr)2Ni) eutectoid structure. The findings presented herein demonstrate the significant potential of dissimilar brazing in facilitating the robust bonding between glass-ceramic dental crowns and Ti abutment.