Influence of processing method of CoCrMo dental alloy on the corrosion behavior in artificial saliva

Removable or fixed dental frameworks are usually made of CoCr alloys. The CoCr dental alloys are produced traditionally by lost-wax casting. However, alternative processing routes, such as hot-pressing, are being studied for dental applications. The purpose of the present work was to assess the corrosion resistance of CoCrMo dental alloy produced by conventional lost-wax casting and hot-pressing. The corrosion behavior was studied in artificial saliva at 37 degrees C by potentiodynamic polarisation tests. Immersion tests were performed to evaluate the growth of the passive film where electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used at different immersion periods. Results showed slightly better corrosion resistance in terms of i(pass) for CoCrMo samples obtained by hot-pressing. On the other hand, the immersion tests showed a more stable and thicker passive film formed on hot-pressed CoCrMo dental alloy, pointing out that hot-pressing may be considered a promising technique to produce CoCrMo dental structures.