The basic function of any ball bearing is to reduce friction between the two elements because rolling things have less friction than the sliding things and the reason is not hard to fathom. If things were to slide instead of roll the entire surface of the two things sliding against each other would be in touch which means more friction and more resistance.

When things are rolling they have less friction because of the fact that they have less amount of surface in contact and that means that less friction and resistances.

The bearings then actually have an inner surface to roll over and outer surface to roll over. These balls then get most of the load and but of course then there are various kind of ball bearings for different applications.

Roller ball bearings have three components namely the outer race and the inner race. Balls get the load from the outer race and transfer the load to the inner race. But roller ball bearings can only handle small amounts of load since the balls have less area of contact to the races.

Roller bearings are a variety of ball bearings in the sense they do not have the balls but a cylinder where the bearings come in contact over a large area and that means that they can in fact handle larger loads. The variety used in cars is the tapered roller bearings and that means that they can in fact handle larger loads and also they are used in pairs so that the load can be handled in both the directions.

Nowadays a lot of ceramic ball bearings are being used since they are lighter than steel and generate less heat and hence can go faster than steel. The ceramic material can be silicon nitride or silicon carbide or zirconium.

Again you can have entire ball bearing built out of ceramic material or you can have only the balls of the bearings built of ceramic.

The ceramic material which is used in these ball bearings is the silicon nitride or silicon carbide or zirconium.

This material was developed for use in aerospace shuttles when they entered the earth’s atmosphere. These are called the heat shields on the exterior of the space shuttles. These are made up of highly processed silica and ceramic material.

The advantage that these offer is immense as these are virtually indestructible and have advantages over the traditional steel balls. The balls are processed so that they are not brittle which a drawback of the ceramic ball bearings was once.

The tests have proved that the ceramic ball bearings have longer life shelf as opposed

to the conventional steel balls. In the conventional ball bearings the surface wear is very common and that causes the surface to weld together and get damaged even during the lubrication. That is not the case with ceramic ball bearings. Also there is less wear and tear the side effect is that even the lubricants have a longer shelf life.

The net effect is that running speed is 40-50% greater than the steel ball bearings as well as longer lube life for the lubricant. Most of these ceramic ball bearings are used in wide range of industries beginning with aircrafts, biotechnology equipment, pumps and compressors and even the precision mills and other uses wherever there is need for high speed as well is high heat generated.

The Ceramic hybrid bearings have the characteristics such as heat resistance, extended life, light weight, lower thermal expansion, electrical non- conductance and thus can be used in an infinite number of applications. It has been found that there are several common designs of ball bearings they can be made from many different materials, including: stainless steel, chrome steel, and ceramic (silicon nitride (Si3N4)). A hybrid ball bearing is a bearing with ceramic balls and races of metal. Ceramic hybrid ball bearings use these ceramic balls in place of steel balls. They are constructed with steel inner and outer rings.

There are three types of Ceramic Ball Bearings;

 1. Ceramic Hybrid Ball Bearings : Where the rolling elements, or balls, are ceramic, but the inner and outer rings are still conventional steels.
 
 2. Partial Ceramic Ball Bearings: Where the rolling elements, and the inner ring are ceramic, but the outer ring is still made of steel.
 
 3. Full Ceramic Ball Bearings: Where the rolling elements, inner, and outer rings are made of silicon nitride.
 

The execellent characteristic of the ceramic ball beraings are :-

Lightweight : As the density of the ceramic ball bearings is 40% lower than that of steel, which allows the centrifugal force from the rolling elements lower, thus extending the life of the bearing.

Low Coefficient of Linear Expansion : In applications involving high speed operation, although the temperature of the bearing is high, this low coefficient results in lower preload and lower heat generation.

Low Friction : The slip of the rolling element during operation is reduced, resulting in less heat being generated.

The use of Ceramics for bearing components results in a far superior product over traditional all steel ball bearings.

There are two types of ceramic bearing i.e hybrid ceramic ball bearings and Full Ceramic Bearing. The hybrid ceramic bearing have a steel inner and the outer rings are formed with ceramic balls whereas in case of full ceramic bearing the inner and the outer rings and the balls are made of ceramic only. There are many kinds of ceramic materials, the most common ceramic materials are Si3N4 which is defined as the silicon nitride ceramic material and is black in color. The other kind of ceramic material is known as the silicon carbide material or SiC and is also black in color. The zirconium dioxide or ZrO2 is also known as zirconia or zirconium oxide, they are white in color, this ZrO2 or zirconia ball looks exactly like a pearl. It has been known that the ceramic material is not stronger than a steel, but ceramic bearing are lighter and have lower friction than that found in a steel which makes ceramic bearing go faster with lower heat generated. More then a decade the ceramic ball bearings have been used for cutting tools, turbines, satellites and even in formula 1 racing.

Few of the most important component of the ceramic ball bearings are:

1. Thermal Expansion: On of the utmost feature of the ceramic is that it  expands and contracts with changes in temperature which is like 35% less than steel, thus allowing the cyclist with less amount of vibration and offers smoother motion.

2 . Less Conductivity: The Ceramics are electrically NON-conductive, and chemically inert, thus do not suffer from oxidation and the rust that degrades the surface of a traditional steel ball bearing.

3. Weight Reduction: Silicon nitride ceramic balls are only about 40% of the weight of steel ball bearing which means that less weight equals to less rotating mass, making high speed, acceleration and deceleration possible with less effort.

4. Modulus of Elasticity: Ceramic is 50% harder, which allows it to takes more amount of work to alter its original shape and size.

The ceramic balls bearings weigh up to 40% less than steel bearing balls simply depending upon the size thus reducing the centrifugal loading and skidding which means that the hybrid ceramic bearings can operate 20% to 40% faster than conventional bearings. This reduction in force reduces the friction and the lighter ball allows the bearing to spin faster, and uses less energy to maintain its speed.

It is therefore very important to take proper care of the ceramic ball bearings in order to keep the dental tools work smoothly and accurately. Some of the most important dental tools are dental ball bearings. These small tools are required for dental hand pieces to function properly. There are several types of ball bearings that dental professionals use which include ceramic ball bearings and the stainless steel ball bearings.

On September 28, 1992 The Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement on dental hand piece sterilization which layed-out how the dental hand pieces, including those with ceramic ball bearings, should be properly cleaned and used. As per the statement it is advised that the dental hand pieces should not be cleaned using the chemicals.

For the proper cleaning of the dental equipment heat sterlization is recommended. In case your dental equipment is not designed to be heat resistant then it is suggested that you should either replace it with modern equipment that is heat tolerant or you should retrofit the older dental hand pieces with heat resistant elements for the smooth and proper working.

It is advisable that the dental equipment including ceramic ball bearings should be thoroughly cleaned before and after they are used on the patient as, this will reduce the chances of infection and any other deseace.

There are a lot of supplies, tools and materials that are required in the dental practices and some of the most important dental tools are dental ball bearings. The ceramic ball bearings are available in different varieties all you need is to decide is what diameter you require. As some of the inner diameters of these ceramic ball bearings include 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 9 mm, 10mm, 12mm, 15mm, 17mm and 20mm.

It is suggested that a proper care and proper cleaning of the ceramic ball bearings is must for its smooth functioning.