Corrosion of galvanic pairs of Co-Cr alloys with high-copper silver amalgam using Mansfeld formulas

ABSTRACT In the restoration of lost or damaged dental pieces, different alloys are frequently used, leaving the mouth exposed to electrical currents that circulate through saliva and dental fluids. In the present work, electrochemical methods are used to determine the corrosion rate of galvanic pairs of a high copper silver amalgam with Co-Cr dental alloys in artificial saliva. It is observed that when the difference in corrosion potentials of dissimilar alloys are small (less than 100 mVecs), Evans diagrams do not give good results, so the Mansfeld correction formulas must be used. Thus, it is found that the most resistant to corrosion is the pair formed between the amalgam and the bulk Co-Cr alloy (PG1,3) and that the corrosion products released in greater quantity to the electrolyte are those that contain ions of Co, Cr, Ag, Sr and Cu.