The effects of conductivity and pH of saliva on electrochemical potentials of metallic dental materials

The paper presents results of the study on electrochemical potentials of metallic dental materials. Seven alloys, amalgam and chromium-nickel steel were examined as well as the effect of the solution conductivity ranging from 12.5 μS/cm to 2.01 mS/cm and solution pH within the range of 5.5 to 11.2 on electrochemical potentials of the materials. Amalgam presented with the lowest changes of the standard potential due to changing conductivity and pH of the solution within experiment conditions. Moreover, increase of pH value caused decrease of electrochemical potential of all examined materials, apart from amalgam. It was proved that electromotive force of galvanic cells formed by some of the examined materials and amalgam are often higher than 200 mV. Statistica software was used for mathematical analysis of the results.