Rare earth element as colorants have been used in industry for many years. In this study, tooth-like dental ceramic has been prepared by adding rare earth oxides as colorants to nano 3Y-TZP. And the effect of Pr6O11 and CeO2 additions as dopants in yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP) on the sintering densification, microstructure and transformation behavior of the composites was examined. The experimental results are discussed in terms of defect chemistry by aliovalent cation substitutions. It is found that a small amount of Pr6O11 and CeO2 additions has no significant effects on the material sintering properties, and by this means it is possible that bioceramics with a color similar to natural dentine could be developed.

Keywords: Y-TZP, Rare earth, Ceramic, Sintering.