Corrosion Behavior of a Nickel-Base Dental Casting Alloy in Artificial Saliva Studied by Weight Loss and Polarization Techniques

Corrosion of Ni-Cr base dental alloys in saliva influences their application in prostheses. Corrosion behaviour of the NiCr alloy was studied using two techniques including weight lossdescribed by corrosion rate (CR) per mil per year (mpy)and potentiodynamic polarizationdescribed by corrosion potential (CP) in mV and current density (CD) in mA/cm2in artificial saliva with different pH.Surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Statistical difference was assessed using one-way ANOVA and post-HOC Tukey-HSD tests with a difference significance of 95%. In weight loss method,CRwas 71.95±3.40, 17.26±1.03, 8.92±0.35 and 6.93±0.54mpy in pH values of 2.5, 5, 7 and 9, respectively. CR obtained in pH of 2.5 was significantly different with that in other groups, but those obtained in pH of 5, 7 and 9 were not significantly different. In polarization method, CPwere significantly different. CD measured in pH of 2.5 and 5 was significantly different with the rest of pH values. Corrosion rates in pH of 7 and 9 were not significantly different. The results obtained by both techniques are consistent. Corrosion resistance decreases as pH increases. In more acidic saliva, corrosion rate is greater likely due to the higher dissolution rate of Ni through weak passivation. However, the less acidic saliva leads to formation of more stable passive film on Ni and therefore the dissolution of Ni decreases leading to lower corrosion rates.