Dublin Descriptors
Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student will have to know the main characteristics of materials for dental applications.

Applying knowledge and understanding
The student must be able to carry out a detailed examination of the properties of materials illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of individual cases. Particular attention will be paid to interdisciplinary argumentation skills.
Making judgments
The student must be able to autonomously evaluate, choosing among the various possibilities, which is the most suitable material for the specific dental application.

Communication skills
The student must be able to describe the topics covered during the course with an adequate property of language.

Learning skills
The notions acquired during the frontal lessons will be applied to practical examples in which the student will be asked to participate actively.

Fundamentals of chemistry

The course will analyze the main characteristics of dental materials most frequently used by dentists to provide a method of critical analysis of materials science, along with objective evaluation criteria based on scientific evidence.

Introduction to the Science and Technology of Materials
History of dental materials
Sub-base materials
Dental cements
Polymers and polymerization
Composites, compomers
Adhesion and adhesive systems
Dental cements
Adhesion and adhesive systems
Dental amalgams
Non-elastic and elastic impression materials
Gypsum materials and dental plasters
Dental waxes
Ceramic materials for dental applications
Materials for endodontic therapy

Metallic, polymeric, ceramic, composite materials
Structure and bonds of atoms
Types of atomic and molecular bonds
Crystal structure geometry:
Space lattice and unit cells
Crystal systems and Bravais lattices
Main metallic crystal structures (BCC, FCC, HCP)
Solidification and crystal imperfections:
Metal solidification
Solid metal solutions (substitutional and interstitial)
Crystal defects (point, line, planar, and volume)
Metals and metal alloys:
Phase diagrams of pure substances
Isomorphic binary alloys
Eutectic binary alloys
Titanium and titanium alloys
Metals for biomedical applications – biomaterials (bioactive glass)
Mechanical properties of metals
Stress and strain in metals
Tensile test and stress-strain diagram
Hardness, toughness, and resilience
Fracture of metals
Corrosion and protection of metallic materials
Polymerization reaction
Deformation and stiffening of polymeric materials
Creep and fracture of polymeric materials
Ceramic materials:
Crystal structures of ceramic materials
Crystal defects in ceramic materials
Processing of ceramic materials
Mechanical properties of ceramic materials
Composite materials: manufacturing processes and mechanical properties

Laboratory Internship
Study of the wettability of biomaterials by measuring the static contact angle
Measurement of surface roughness of titanium implants
Hardness testing on metallic materials
FT-IR characterization of adhesives and composite materials for dental applications
Analysis of mechanical properties through uniaxial tensile tests
Morphological analysis through SEM microscopy
Fatigue testing of materials through dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)

Applied Dental Materials di John McCabe (9th edition)

National and International scientific literature

Introduction to the Science and Technology of Materials
History of dental materials
Sub-base materials
Dental cements
Composites, compomers
Adhesion and adhesive systems
Dental cements
Adhesion and adhesive systems
Dental amalgams
Non-elastic and elastic impression materials
Gypsum materials and dental plasters
Dental waxes
Ceramic materials for dental applications
Materials for endodontic therapy

Metallic, polymeric, ceramic, composite materials
Structure and bonds of atoms
Types of atomic and molecular bonds
Crystal structure geometry:
Space lattice and unit cells
Crystal systems and Bravais lattices
Main metallic crystal structures (BCC, FCC, HCP)
Solidification and crystal imperfections:
Metal solidification
Solid metal solutions (substitutional and interstitial)
Crystal defects (point, line, planar, and volume)
Metals and metal alloys:
Phase diagrams of pure substances
Isomorphic binary alloys
Eutectic binary alloys
Titanium and titanium alloys
Metals for biomedical applications – biomaterials (bioactive glass)
Mechanical properties of metals
Stress and strain in metals
Tensile test and stress-strain diagram
Hardness, toughness, and resilience
Fracture of metals
Corrosion and protection of metallic materials
Polymeric materials:
Polymerization reaction
Deformation and stiffening of polymeric materials
Creep and fracture of polymeric materials
Ceramic materials:
Crystal structures of ceramic materials
Crystal defects in ceramic materials
Processing of ceramic materials
Mechanical properties of ceramic materials
Composite materials: manufacturing processes and mechanical properties

Laboratory Internship
Study of the wettability of biomaterials by measuring the static contact angle
Measurement of surface roughness of titanium implants
Hardness testing on metallic materials
FT-IR characterization of adhesives and composite materials for dental applications
Analysis of mechanical properties through uniaxial tensile tests
Morphological analysis through SEM microscopy
Fatigue testing of materials through dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)

Lectures, laboratory activities

For more info please contact the teacher: gturco@units.it

The assessment of learning will be conducted through partial oral exams related to the teaching modules that make up the integrated course. The grade for each partial exam will be expressed in thirtieths. During the partial oral exams, the student’s level of knowledge and competence on the program topics will be evaluated, and the correct understanding of the course contents will be verified through specific questions. In answering these questions, the student must demonstrate adequate language skills and reasoning abilities by connecting the various topics. The duration of the partial exams varies depending on the progress of the exam itself but will not be less than 30 minutes. The results of each partial exam will be published using the "Partial Exams" tool provided by the Esse3 platform. There will be a final call in which the Commission will review the results of the individual partial exams and record the final exam grade.
To pass the exam for the course, the student must obtain a grade of at least 18/30 in each of the partial exams. The student cannot reject the result of the individual partial exam but can only reject the final grade of the integrated course exam. In this case, the student will have to retake all the partial exams.
The student must register for the partial exam through the ESSE3 platform. The grade of the partial exam is valid until the end of the special session of the academic year in which the partial exam is taken. The final grade of the integrated course exam will be calculated as the weighted average of the grades of each partial exam, weighted by the CFU of each module. For the purposes of defining the weighted average of the final exam, any honors obtained in the partial exams will be valued as 1 point, i.e., a grade of 30 with honors in the partial exams corresponds numerically to a score of 31/30. To award honors to the final exam grade, the grade must be greater than 30.5/30.

Exam assessment
30 -30 cum laude: excellent knowledge of the topics and excellent language skills; the student is able to brilliantly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases and to readily connect the notions.
27 -29: good knowledge of the topics, remarkable language skills, good analytical skills; the student is able to correctly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases and to connect the notions.
24-26: good knowledge of the main topics, good command of the language; the student shows an adequate ability to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases.
21-23: the student does not demonstrate full mastery of the main teaching topics, even if fundamental knowledge is possessed; the intervention of the teacher is needed to answer the questions correctly; however, satisfactory properties of language is shown.
18-20: minimal knowledge of the main teaching topics and technical language, limited ability to adequately apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases.
Insufficient (<18): the student does not have an acceptable knowledge of the program contents.

This course explores topics closely related to one or more goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs)