Aldo R. Boccaccini

Wolfram Höland

Inorganic biomaterials include materials for e.g. dental restorations, biocompatible materials for orthopedic appliances and bioactive materials. However, inorganic biomaterials are also developed for use in tissue regeneration, e.g. wound healing. These products either consist of crystalline phases, such as Al2O3 or ZrO2, which makes them suitable for use in hip bone replacement or they are composed of tricalcium phosphate and used as resorbable biomaterials. Or, they contain glassy phases, such as BIOGLASS®, and are employed as bioactive biomaterials to bond to living bone. Inorganic biomaterials are also used to develop inorganic – organic composites which are suitable for use as bioactive products or to produce dental filling materials. In general, the development of composites is state of the art. However, it is also a future technology. Biomaterials for dental restorations consist of glassy or crystalline phases. Glass-ceramics represent a special group of inorganic biomaterials for dental restorations. Glass-ceramics are composed of at least one inorganic glassy phase and at least one crystalline phase. These products demonstrate a combination of properties, which include excellent aesthetics and the ability to mimic the optical properties of natural teeth, as well as high strength and toughness. They can be processed using special processing procedures, e.g. machining, moulding and sintering, to fabricate high quality products. Sintered oxide ceramics, such as Al2O3 or ZrO2, are also used for the fabrication of dental restorations. These products can be veneered with other biomaterials, or they can be polished to achieve the best possible surface quality. The manuscripts dealing with inorganic biomaterials should focus on the development of the products, especially on their chemical nature, the phase formation processes and all the details related to their processing. Very important are the mechanisms of phase formation. The reader of the manuscript should understand all of these reactions in detail. As far as application is concerned, it is important to describe the main properties of the developed products based on the valid standards, e.g. the ISO standards. The papers published should show that the products comply with these standards. It is very important to understand the relationship between biomass and biomaterials. This will help young scientists to follow the development of biomaterials with new, unexpected properties. He manuscripts published in "Frontiers" should also focus on the application of the biomaterials. Every manuscript should show the most important application of the material presented. There are different journals that deal with specific product categories, eg "Dental Materials". However, "Frontiers" should allow young scientists to publish their research results using all kinds of inorganic biomaterials. On the other hand, fundamental discussion and analysis of the findings should be encouraged and conclusions about possible applications in the field of medicine and dentistry should be drawn.

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