[Non-precious alloys for ceramo-metal restorations].

Rapidly increasing gold prices hastened the widespread use of non-precious alloys for ceramo-metal restorations. Especially base-metal alloys has been considerably improved and has shown much progress after a long period of study and use. Among these alloys, nickel-chromium and cobalt-chromium alloys are quite popular in our country, like in Europe and in U.S.A. Their physical properties are superior than noble-metal alloys which are used for ceramo-metal restorations. However, some questions arise in the dental literature about their corrosion resistance, biocompatibility and porcelain bonding properties. This article reviews the constituents, physical properties, porcelain bonding, biocompatibility and corrosion resistance of nickel-chromium and cobalt-chromium alloys.