How Materials influence the operation of Medical Treatment System
In the last few years, new inventions of medical equipments, medical technologies and
replaceable materials directly brought variable changes to the whole medical treatment system. The
development of health cares allowed people to aspire higher quality and more different varieties
medical materials to help them receive better cures or correct physical defects. Thus, scientists start
to pay more attention to how to discover new materials in order to satisfy people’s requirements and
urgent situations.
Titanium alloy is a familiar material. Both of its’ physical and chemical properties are stabilized.
Which means Titanium is entirely defined to be inert and ineffective to corrosion and it will not be
absorbed by the human body. Moreover, there is also no reaction with body fluids or medicines, no
ionization and no interactions with human muscle or bones. Therefore, Titanium alloy is a biocompatible element. Its’ accrete properties enabled people to produce human body joints, skulls and
aortic valves. Nowadays, more than one hundred million patients over the whole world are
receiving treatments for the replacement of their body bones, joints or skulls by the Titanium alloy.
My dad was one the patients. His head was hit against by the car window during a car accident.
Which induced his left side of the skull was cracked and need to undergo several operations. After
his broken parts of the skull were taken out, the doctor told us that a Titanium alloy sheet will be his
new skull. He also told us Titanium alloy is the most ideal medical implants, it’s capacity meets
human body’s demands. One week later, this titanium alloy sheet was placed in my dad’s head and
became his new skull. And my dad told me he could feel that this Titanium alloy is generally
attaching to his brain. Even though it is always a problem when he was trying to pass a security
check at the airport. In recent years, Titanium alloy is the most trustworthy material unless we apply
Zirconia over the structural metallic materials. However, applying Zirconia is an unnecessary and
dangerous method of gaining the same effect of Titanium alloy. Therefore, we could say Titanium
alloy is completely changing the worldwide medical treatment system, since more and more patient
will be cured and not only depends on risky materials or medicines.
Teeth play vital roles in our life. However, it is not always lucky to avoid tooth decay.
Therefore, dentures became the first choice for someone who wants to have a good appearance and
a healthier oral-cavity environment. There are several types of materials to create the dentures. AllMetals are made with gold or silver, they have a good strength and an exceptional durability.
However, all-metals don’t have a white appearance. All-Ceramic are made with the combination of
porcelain and ceramic, which gives a natural look. But its’ longevity and strength are still a
problem. The other one is called the Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns (PFM’s). PFM is a
hybrid between all-ceramic and all-metals. And PFM is both strong and natural looking. My
grandma has two PFM teeth, and she was still having troubles chewing. Since the dentures made
with porcelain are more dense and heavier. One of the disadvantages is using porcelain dentures
might accelerate the bone loss. Therefore, there is a high possibility of inventing a material for
dentures. These new created dentures might be strength, durable, natural looking and longevity.
Based on some researches, acrylic is a new material for dentures. It brought less pressure to jaw
muscles and will not accelerate the bone loss. Yet, acrylic teeth contain microscopic pits and can
keep bacteria. All these materials did contributions to the medical treatment system, since these
materials not only trying to help people getting a better appearance, but also pushing scientists to
invent new denture materials for the whole medical system.
Not only the materials influence the medical treatment systems, but also impact the whole
world. Thus, motivations gained by people’s requirements allowed us to experience a higher quality
life.
Chunyin Yang
Professor Hull
Introduction to Material engineering
6 October 2016
RIN: 661608051
References:
• AZoM, Written By. "Titanium Alloys in Medical Applications." AZoM.com. The Titanium
Information Group, 11 June 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.
• JONES, CHERYL. "How to Wear Dentures Without Pain." LIVESTRONG.COM.
LIVESTRONG.COM, 21 June 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
• "Types of Dental Crowns. -." Types of Crowns: Porcelain-fused-to-metal, Ceramic, Metal/Gold.
Animated-Teeth.com, 2000. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.