Overview: Damage resistance of graded ceramic restorative materials.

Improving mechanical response of materials is of great interest in a wide range of disciplines, including biomechanics, tribology, geology, optoelectronics, and nanotechnology. It has been long recognized that spatial gradients in surface composition and structure can improve the mechanical integrity of a material. This review surveys recent results of sliding-contact, flexural, and fatigue tests on graded ceramic materials from our laboratories and elsewhere. Although our findings are examined in the context of possible applications for next-generation, graded all-ceramic dental restorations, implications of our studies have broad impact on biomedical, civil, structural, and an array of other engineering applications.