ABSTRACT

This chapter gives an overview of chemical reactions involved in the curing of chemically bonded bioceramics (CBBCs), and how these materials are processed, and the typical property features of these biomaterials in relation to other biomaterials. A detailed description of the property profile of CBBCs will be presented in Chapters 7 and 8. 3.1 Chemical Reactions during Setting and

Six mechanisms have been identified [1] that control how chemically bonded bioceramic (CBBC) materials are integrated onto tissue: (i) the main reaction, which includes hydration; (ii) apatite formation in the presence of phosphate ions in the biomaterial; (iii) apatite formation in the contact zone in the presence of body liquid; (iv) transformation of hydrates into apatite and other biomaterials; (v) biologically induced integration and ingrowth, that is, bone formation at the contact zone; and (vi) a mass increase reaction, especially important when unhydrated phases are used as coatings or as augmentation pastes. These mechanisms are described in next chapters.