Results of a study of silica and silica-titania sol-gel coatings for the creation of intermediate interfaces between commercially pure Ti or titanium alloy Ti6A14VELI and dental porcelain are presented. Coatings Of SiO2 on Ti6A14V alloy and SiO2-TiO2 on Ti were deposited using sol-gel method. Surface microstructures and wear behaviour of the coatings were studied by using scanning electron microscopy with electron diffraction spectroscopy and pin-on-disc method. It is found that (1) Ti6Al4V/SiO2 and Ti/SiO2-TiO2 coatings obtained by the sol-gel method are compact, chemically homogeneous and relatively rough, and (2) the smaller wear Of SiO2 coatings than that of SiO2-TiO2 coatings is associated with differences in their microstructure and roughness. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.