EDXRS analysis of dental alloys

Dental alloys, having a wide range of compositions and different matrices, were analyzed with energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDXRS) and glow di scharge optical spectrometry (GDOS) to verify and discuss the capabilities of EDXRS in dental alloy characterization and to compare the EDXRS data wit h the GDOS data. The metallurgical characterization of some alloys was perf ormed by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, comb ined with energy-dispersive spectrometry, to investigate their microstructu re and homogeneity. A reference sample was used as to calibrate the spectro meter for each matrix type. The EDXRS analysis conformed to the requirement s of dental alloy manufacturers and standards. The EDXRS results are in goo d agreement with the data obtained by GDOS. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.