An Overview of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites in Prosthetic Restoration

Purpose of the Article: To review the use of carbon fiber - reinforced composites in prosthetic restorations in complete and partially edentulous patients. Background: Prosthesis reinforcement with the fibers such as carbon fiber mainly improves fatigue behavior and impact strength. Carbon fiber reinforced composites have highly favorable mechanical properties and their strength to weight ratios are superior to those of other materials. When compared to metals and conventional dentures and frameworks, carbon fibers offer many other advantages as well, including non - corrosiveness, low density, greater stiffness, abrasion resistance, high fracture strength, high fatigue and creep resistance, biocompatibility, chemically inert, dimensional stability, low coefficient of thermal expansion and last but not least cost - effectiveness. They also offer the potential for chair side and laboratory fabrication without costly sophisticated equipment. Thus, this article reviews the carbon fiber that is reinforcing various prostheses. Conclusion: Carbon fiber reinforced prosthesis is the viable alternative option to the conventional prosthesis providing similar stiffness and rigidity and optimal biocompatibility. The development of a protocol for the fabrication of these prostheses and specific training for dental technicians is recommended to achieve satisfactory results. Data: Review articles, Finite element analysis, invitro studies. Source: PubMed, MEDLINE, ResearchGate, Google scholar, https://en.ruthinium.it, http://www.deiitalia.it, Web of Science databases were searched between 1987 and 2020.