Composite material having ceramic fibers

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a composite material, a method of making and using the composite material and dental products made by hardening the composite material. The composite material includes a polymerizable component, ceramic fibers and nanoclusters. Each of the ceramic fibers of the composite material has a length and where the length of fifty percent of the ceramic fibers, based on a total number of the ceramic fibers, is at least 50 micrometers and the length of ninety percent of the ceramic fibers, based on the total number of the ceramic fibers, is no greater than 500 micrometers. The composite material can also include discrete non-fumed metal oxide nanoparticles. The composite material can be hardened to become any one of a dental restorative, a dental adhesive, a dental mill blank, a dental cement, a dental prostheses, an orthodontic device, an orthodontic adhesive, a dental casting material or a dental coating.

1 . A method of making a composite material, comprising:
 providing 20 to 40 weight percent (wt. %) of a polymerizable component;   providing 4 to 50 wt. % of ceramic fibers;   providing 20 to 70 wt. % of nanoclusters, where the wt. % values of the composite material are based on a total weight of the composite material and total to a value of 100 wt. %, and where each of the ceramic fibers has a length and where the length of fifty percent of the ceramic fibers, based on a total number of the ceramic fibers, is at least 50 micrometers and the length of ninety percent of the ceramic fibers, based on the total number of the ceramic fibers, is no greater than 500 micrometers; and   admixing the polymerizable component, the ceramic fibers and the nanoclusters to make the composite material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where providing the composite material includes providing up to 12 wt. % of nanoparticles based on the total weight of the composite material, and admixing the polymerizable component, the ceramic fibers and the nanoclusters and the nanoparticles to make the composite material. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , where providing the composite material includes providing 2 to 12 wt. % of nanoparticles based on the total weight of the composite material. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claims 2 , where the nanoparticles are discrete non-fumed metal oxide nanoparticles. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , where providing nanoclusters includes providing 22 to 65 wt. % of nanoclusters. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , where providing ceramic fibers includes providing 4 to 40 wt. % of the ceramic fibers based on the total weight of the composite material. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , where the length of sixty-five percent of the ceramic fibers, based on a total number of the ceramic fibers, is at least 100 micrometers and the length of ninety percent of the ceramic fibers, based on the total number of the ceramic fibers, is no greater than 350 micrometers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , where the ceramic fibers have an arithmetic mean diameter of 0.5 to 20 micrometers. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , where the arithmetic mean diameter of the ceramic fibers is 9 to 12 micrometers. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , including hardening the polymerizable component to form a hardened polymerizable component having a refractive index, where the ceramic fibers have a refractive index value within 0.1 or less of the refractive index of the hardened polymerizable component. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , where the ceramic fibers have a refractive index within 0.05 or less of the refractive index of the hardened polymerizable component. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , where the ceramic fibers include a surface area and the method includes treating the ceramic fibers to change the surface area of the ceramic fibers. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , where the ceramic fibers include a predetermined amount of boron trioxide, and treating the ceramic fibers to change the surface area of the ceramic fibers includes removing at least a portion of the boron trioxide from the ceramic fibers. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , where removing at least a portion of the boron trioxide include boiling the ceramic fibers in water to remove the boron trioxide in the ceramic fibers. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further including hardening the composite material to form a dental product. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , where the nanoclusters are silica-zirconia nanoclusters. 
     
     
         17 . A method of using a composite material, comprising:
 placing a composite material near or on a tooth surface, wherein the composite material comprises 20 to 40 weight percent (wt. %) of a polymerizable component; 4 to 50 wt. % of ceramic fibers; and 20 to 70 wt. % of nanoclusters, where the wt. % values of the composite material are based on a total weight of the composite material and total to a value of 100 wt. %, and where each of the ceramic fibers has a length and where the length of fifty percent of the ceramic fibers, based on a total number of the ceramic fibers, is at least 50 micrometers and the length of ninety percent of the ceramic fibers, based on the total number of the ceramic fibers, is no greater than 500 micrometers;   changing the shape of the composite material near or on the tooth surface; and   hardening the composite material.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , where changing the shape of the composite material near or on the tooth surface includes shaping the composite material into a dental product selected from the group consisting of a dental prostheses, an orthodontic device, a dental crown, an anterior filling, a posterior filing or a cavity liner. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further including polishing the composite material after hardening the composite material.