Alternative dental casting alloys.

The diversity of alloys available to the dental practitioner has never been more extensive. We now have the opportunity to select alloys based on the individual patient's specific biologic, functional, and economic requirements. There is no one alloy suitable for all applications, because in metallurgy there is a constant trade-off in properties as changes in formulations are made. To make optimal use of the choices available, and for ethical and medicolegal considerations, it is incumbent upon the practitioner to be aware of the identity and composition of the alloys prescribed.