Fractal dimension analysis of aluminum oxide particle for sandblasting dental use.

Aluminum oxide particles are commonly used as a sandblasting media, particularly in dentistry, for multiple purposes including divesting the casting investment materials and increasing effective surface area for enhancing the mechanical retention strengths of succeedingly applied fired porcelain or luting cements. Usually fine aluminum oxide particles are recycled within the sandblasting machine. Ceramics such as aluminum oxides are brittle, therefore, some portions of recycling aluminum oxide particles might be brittle fractured. If fractured sandblasting particles are involved in the recycling media, it might result in irregularity metallic materials surface as well as the recycling sandblasting media itself be contaminated. Hence, it is necessary from both clinical and practical reasons to monitor the particle conditions in terms of size/shape and effectiveness of sandblasting, so that sandblasting dental prostheses can be fabricated in optimum and acceptable conditions. In the present study, the effect of recycling aluminum oxide particles on the surface texture of metallic materials was evaluated by Fractal Dimension Analysis (FDA). Every week the alumina powder was sampled and analyzed for weight fraction and contaminants. Surface texture of sandblasted standard samples was also characterized by FDA. Results indicate very little change in particle size, while the fractal dimension increased. Fractal dimension analysis showed that the aluminum oxide particle as a sandblasting media should be replaced after 30 or 40 min of total accumulated operation time.