DIRECT FILLING

 Pure gold is the noblest of all dental metal

 Rarely tarnish or corrode in the oral cavity
 Inactive chemically – is not affected by air, heat, moisture,
or most of the solvent.
 Highly durable, if proper case selection , cavity
preparation and careful manipulation is done.
 Direct filling gold restorations exhibit excellent marginal
integrity and biocompatibility in the oral cavity.
 Highest ductility & malleability – can be beaten into a
very thin foil of submicron thickness
 CLASSIFICATION of DFG

1. According to the microstructure

a. Hammered sheet (foils)
b. Electrolytic precipitated
c. Granulated gold (Encapsulate gold
powder)
1. Foil (no- 3,4,5)
2. Laminated foil
3. Preformed – rope, cylinders
4. Carbonised –corrugated
5. Cohesive, non cohesive
6. Platinised
7. Mat foil
1. Mat gold (sintered –strips – crystalline, spongy)
2. Mat – foil gold
3. Electralloy – Ca-alloy-strips
 Golden or EZ gold
 Stop foil gold
1. Cohesive (clean)
2. Non cohesive (containing adsorbed gas )
1. Sheets
2. Ropes
3. Strips
4. Pellets
5. Cylinders
 Several forms of DFG are available for restorative
purposes. All of them are cohesive and 99.99%
pure (except platinized foil & alloyed electrolytic
precipitate).

1. Foil ( fibrous gold)

2. Electrolytic precipitate ( crystalline gold)
3. Granulated gold (powdered gold)
 Robert Woffendale 1795
 Also called as fibrous gold.
 Provided in low thickness 0.6 µm
 Very thin gold sheet are placed in between some special layer or
Chamois leather, as alternative layer to form a ‘cutch’ & subjected
to continuous hammering , until extremely thin foil is obtained
 Then cut into small square pieces of 10X10 cm
 Treated with ammonia gas (non cohesive form)
 Placed alternatively in between the sheet of book & supplied to the
dentist
 No. 3 foil--- weighs 3 grains ( 0.194 grams) &
thickness 0.38 microns
 Standard no. 4 gold foil is supplied in 100 x 100
mm ( 4x 4 inch ) sheets that weighs 4 grains
( 0.259 grams) & thickness 0.51 microns.
 No – 20 (20 grains), 40(40 grains), 60(60grains),
90(90 grains) foils are also available
 Numbering system refers to the weight of the
standard sheet
A. Sheet gold
1. Cohesive
2. Non- cohesive
B. Ropes C. Cylinders
D. Laminated foil E. Platinized foil
F. Carbonized or Corrugated foil
G. Mat –foil gold
 Sheet gold foil can be supplied in both cohesive &
non-cohesive condition

 Cohesive Gold (pure form) :-

 Gold attract gases eg. Oxygen, to its surface and
any adsorbed gas film prevents cohesion of
individual increments of gold, during their
compaction.

 Manufacturer therefore supplies the gold

essentially free of surface contaminants, and thus
inherently cohesive. This type of gold is known as
cohesive gold.
Non – cohesive gold-

 Manufacturer can subject the foil to ammonia gas,

which is adsorbed on surface of gold, acts as a
protective film.
 Minimizes adsorption of other less volatile
substance & prevents premature cohesion of sheet
that may come into contact
 This ammonia treated foil is called as non –
cohesive gold.
 Before the use volatile film should be removed by
a process known as desorption (Because for cold –
welding procedure gold should have a clean
surface free from impurities.)
 10 cm square piece of No-4 Gold foil is
cut into ¼, 1/8, 1/16 small pieces & rolled
into ropes mechanically.
Produced by rolling cut segments
of No.4 foil into desired width

3.2 mm

4.8 mm

6.4 mm

etc size & then supplied

 Prepared in clinics.
 By placing few foils one over the other .
 Then cut into pieces to facilitate condensation .
 Objective of adding platinum:

 Increases hardness and wear resistance

 It is a laminated structure ,can be produced in

one of the 2 ways.
1. Two sheets of no. 4 pure gold foil and a layer of pure
platinum foil sandwiched between them, can be
hammered until the thickness of no. 4 foil is achieved.
or
2. Layers of platinum and gold sheet can be bonded together
by cladding process ( means bonding of dissimilar metal)
during the rolling operation & then hammering to get
No.4 sheet forms.
 Gold foil is carbonised by heating
in an air –tight Co2 containing
chamber
 Shrivelled or corrugated foil is
formed
 Dentist can prepare the ropes or
cylinders from this
 Another from of DFG is Microcrystalline
gold powder formed by electrolytic
precipitation
1 . Sub types

A. Mat gold

B. Mat foil (mat gold plus gold foil)

C. Electralloy {Gold – calcium alloy}

 Is obtained from electrolytic precipitation on
the cathode gold plate surface
 Produced Powder consist of Dendritic crystal
(0.1mm in length), is then heated (sintering )
to a temperature below the M.P (1063*c) of
gold, Sintering makes the crystal to coalesce &
grow together.
 Powder is then formed into strips of 3-6 mm
width & 15 mm long
 Mat gold is sometimes called spongy
crystalline gold .
 Electrolytic precipitate gold powder is sandwiched,
between sheets of No.3 gold foil, sintered & cut
into pieces

 More preferred for building up the internal bulk

of the restoration ( because compaction can be
done more easily in a shorter time)

 But after condensation more voids remains

between the particles.
 Mat gold is alloyed with 0.1% calcium.
 Calcium alloy electrolytic precipitate powder
is obtained .
 This is sandwiched between gold foil &
sintered, formed into thin strips
 Calcium increases the strength.
 This Electralloy has higher hardness
 1st used in early 1960’s
 Gold powder is in
agglomerated form ,
prepared by chemical
precipitation or atomization
from the molten gold
1. EZ gold
2. Stop foil gold
 Chemically precipitated & atomized gold
powder are first mixed with a soft wax to
form pellets or cylinders of 1-2 mm size &
are wrapped with no.3 gold foil
 Before insertion into the cavity wax is
burnt away & removed
 Prepared by keeping chemically
precipitated gold powder, in between
gold foil & then sintering, then cut into
strips & pieces for use
 Prior to the insertion of DFG, dentist heats the
material to remove protective coating (ammonia
gas) or wax introduced by the manufacturer or
contaminants on the surface (moisture or gases -
O2,N2,H2) acquired during storage & packing
 Process of removing gases (or other), impurities
from the surface of gold is called - Annealing, heat
treatment, degassing or desorption
 Improves the hardness and strength of compacted gold
 Also helps for better welding
 Drives away impurities from the surface, thus making the
surface ready for cohesive
 To keep this surface devoid of any other impurities, until
complete cohesion occurs during buildingup of the
restoration
 Heating time vary depending on the types & size of DFG
 For Powdered gold – 15-20 sec
 For Gold foil pellets & electrolytic gold pellet - 1-2 sec
 Chamois finger tips should be worn by the dentist to
protect the gold from contamination.
 Temperature- 600-13000F
 Under heating should be avoided because it does not
adequately remove the impurities
 Overheating should be avoided because excessive
sintering causes the material to become more stiffer, less
ductile and difficult to condense
Gold can be heated in two ways
 Flame annealing /Alcohol flame method -
heating piece by piece
 Hot plate annealing -heating bulk in a tray

 For gold foil & mat gold – either method is

acceptable
 But for powdered gold – flame annealing is
acceptable
 For flame annealing, handle the
pieces with stainless steel wire point
(because of less contamination).
 In this individual pellets are held
over an alcohol flame (ethanol or
methanol) and heating is done
piece by piece
 Pellet catches fire and burns until
volatile substance is eliminated and
exhibits a dull red glow , and then it
is removed and carried to the cavity
for condensation
 Insufficient heating of the pellet
causes it to be “powdery”
Advantages of flame desorption

1. Ability to select a piece of appropriate size.

2. Desorption of only those pieces used
3. Less exposure to contamination.
4. Less danger of over sintering
5. Control of time and temperature
 In this method, numerous Pellets are being heated
simultaneously on a mica tray over a gas flame or electric
hot furnaces for 10 min at 454*c .
 Hot plate annealing needs more pre-heating and also
utilizes lower temp than flame annealing .
 Over-heating – causes brittleness and stiffness
 Under- heating – causes gold pellet noncohesive and
does not stick
1. Use of excessive amounts of pellets should be avoided, because it
requires prolong heating

2. Pellets may stick together, if the tray is moved.

3. Air currents may affect the uniformity of heating

4. Difficulty of selection of particular type

5. Over sintering

6. Greater exposure to contamination.

7. Less control over the time and temp

8. Slightly delayed compacted, results in adsorption of gases

 Temp – 350-700*c , DFG should become just red hot
-
 Source – Pure alcohol, reduced zone (pale blue
region) of the flame used
 Time – of heating should be properly controlled (15-
60 sec )
 Only required amount should be taken in the tray ,
 Condensation is the procedure used to
condense and fill the harden gold inside the
prepared cavity by cold welding method
 Totally dry cavity is mandatory through
out the compaction process to ensure complete cohesion
 Incremental technique can be maintained for compaction
 Cavity first designed with required undercuts and
retention points ( as DFG cannot chemically bond)
 In case of deep cavity, pulp protecting insulating base
should be used
  2 main process
1. Cold - Welding

2. Wedging
 Process of joining metals by metallic bonding by applying
pressure between the two parts to be joined
 Here metal –joining process does not occurs by heating or
fusing
 Wedging refers to the pressurized adaptation of the gold
form within the space between the tooth structure walls
or corners that have been slightly deformed elastically.
1. Hand condenser & mallet.

2. Pneumatic vibratory condensers.

3. Electrically driven condensers.

 Condenser can be straight, curved, angled, round,
square, or rectangular
 Surface of the tip is smooth or serrated
 Tip can be flat or convex faced
 Size of the tip is about 1-3 mm
 Too thin tip may pierce and damage the restoration
 Too larger tip cannot be effective in producing
sufficient pressure
Hand condensing :-
Hand condensing :-
 Gold foil is cut into small pieces, passed through pure
alcohol flame for degassing and then condensed by hand
condenser without air trapping
 A second layer is applied in a similar manner and hand
condensed by hammering, point by point in a sweeping
manner – known as wedging
 Entire portion is welded like this without bridging to
avoid air trapping porosity or voids
 Similarly, gold foil is are stepped one over the other with
same precautions
 Bulky portion is filled usually by mat gold or powdered
gold (after dewaxing)
 When filling is almost complete the top surface is
again condensed by Platinized or mat –foil gold for
better mechanical properties
 Finishing – is done by burnishing AND using
polishing agents like French chalk, pumice or rouge
 To speed up the condensing
procedure, pneumatic vibrator
and battery operated
condensers are used
 Condenser is connected to the
vibrator
 As the condenser vibrates it
hammers and welds
 No much improvement in the
properties of mechanically
compacted restorations
 1. Strength and Hardness:

 Hardness of pure gold is 25KHN.

 During condensation its hardness rises to 70

- 75.

 Tensile strength rises from 19000 - 32000

psi.

 Yield strength rises from 0 to 30,000 psi

 Density of well compacted DFG is 16.5 cm3 (low)- shows
still large amounts of air -voids or porosities are left
behind – leading to marginal leakage
1. DFG is insoluble in oral fluids & will not readily tarnish &
corrode, maintaining a high polish
2. Due to high ductility, it is capable of perfectly adapting to
the cavity walls
3. Welded in a cold state and has a thermal expansion
almost similar to that of dentin (16.2 ppm/8*c )
4. Oral tissue accepts readily the polished surface of direct
gold restoration
5. DFG cause no tooth discoloration
1.DFG is difficult to manipulate, requiring patience and skill
of clinician
2. Due to the low surface hardness, it is unacceptable in
areas of high stress bearing areas
3. High density – 19.3 gm/cc
4. High thermal & electrical conductivities
5. Initial high cost of DFG may prohibit its use
6. Not adhesive to tooth structure (less chemical bonding)
7. Non esthetic
1. Used primarily for pits & small class I restorations
2. For class III & V restorations